Developmental changes in the internal structure of semantic categories

What’s in a name? Typicality and relatedness effects in children

“…Compared with atypical objects, typical objects of the category exhibited preferential processing (faster reaction times and fewer errors), even by children as young as 4 years of age. Results agree with previous findings in elementary school children and adults (Baddeley et al, 1984;Duncan & Kellas, 1978;Ellis & Nelson, 1999;Schaeffer & Wallace, 1969). With regard to age-related change, the slopes relating Weak Positive and Strong Positive items became significantly less steep with increasing age.…”

“…In children, typical items are classified as members of a category developmentally earlier than are atypical items (Mervis, 1989;Whitney & Kunen, 1983). Developmental changes in category membership may again be observed up to the preadolescent years and may reflect childrenÕs increasing (a) specification of the properties characterizing a category; (b) appreciation of the statistical regularities of, and intercorrelations among, properties; and (c) realization that some properties are more important to membership than are others (Duncan & Kellas, 1978;Keller, 1982;Schwanenflugel, Guth, & Bjorklund, 1986;Younger & Mekos, 1992).…”

Effects of Childhood Hearing Loss on Organization of Semantic Memory: Typicality and Relatedness

“…Compared with atypical objects, typical objects of the category exhibited preferential processing (faster reaction times and fewer errors). The pattern of results agrees with previous findings in children and adults with NH on an array of tasks (Baddeley, Lewis, Eldridge, et al, 1984;Bauer, Dow, & Hertsgaard, 1995;Duncan & Kellas, 1978;Ellis & Nelson, 1999;Jerger & Damian, 2005;Schaeffer & Wallace, 1969). Apparently, the structure of conceptual representations in children with HI, as in children and adults with NH, is based on characteristic properties with an uneven distribution among members; typical objects with a higher frequency of characteristic properties are more easily accessed and/or retrieved (Kail & Nippold, 1984;Rosch, 1973).…”

“…Age-related improvement might be related to increasing, and more robust, conceptual knowledge, particularly regarding the properties characterizing clothing and their relative importance (Duncan & Kellas, 1978;Keller, 1982;Schwanenflugel, Guth, & Bjorkland, 1986;Younger & Mekos, 1992). Age-related improvement might also be related to increased processing proficiency in selective attention and inhibition (Bjorklund, 2005).…”

“…In children, for example, typical items are classified as members of a category developmentally earlier than atypical items (Mervis, 1987;Whitney & Kunen, 1980). Developmental changes in category membership may be observed up to the preteen years and may reflect children's increasing 1) specification of the properties characterizing a category; 2) appreciation of the statistical regularities of, and intercorrelations among, properties; and 3) realization that some properties are more important to membership than others (Duncan & Kellas, 1978;Keller, 1982;Schwanenflugel, Guth, & Bjorklund, 1986;Younger & Mekos, 1992).…”