An Analysis of Categorization Style in Preschoolers

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to assess age differences in the formation of conceptual categories by preschool children. Specifically, a sorting task, a categorization task, and a verbal task were administered to test the role of verbal mediation in the categorization style of children of two age groups: 2- to 3-yr.-olds and 4- to 5-yr.-olds. When provided only perceptual information, both groups of children categorized objects according to visual similarity. When verbal information was also provided, the 4- to 5-yr.-old group ignored visual similarity and categorized conceptually; verbal mediation had a minimal effect on the 2- to 3-yr.-old group. Children in both age groups categorized items conceptually when only verbal information was provided. These data suggest that children as young as 2 to 3 years old understand conceptual categorization but may prefer to categorize perceptually. Thus, categorization style may be a function of task demands as well as competence. A second objective of the study was to assess the feasibility of using videotaped presentations of material to young children in place of more traditional modes of presentation. The results suggested that the use of videotape appears to be an attractive alternative because it has the advantage of maintaining attention for significant periods of time without performance decrement.