The animate-inanimate distinction in preschool children

This study examined the development of the animate–inanimate (A–I) distinction in relation to other taxonomic categories in early childhood. Four‐ and 5‐year‐old children were administered two tasks measuring knowledge of taxonomic categories at various levels of inclusiveness. Across both matching‐...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of developmental psychology 2015-03, Vol.33 (1), p.73-91
Main Authors: Wright, Kristyn, Poulin-Dubois, Diane, Kelley, Elizabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animacy
animate-inanimate distinction
Biology
categorization
Child development
Child Development - physiology
Child, Preschool
Childhood
Comprehension - physiology
Concept Formation - physiology
Developmental psychology
Female
Humans
Knowledge
Male
Taxonomy
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Summary:This study examined the development of the animate–inanimate (A–I) distinction in relation to other taxonomic categories in early childhood. Four‐ and 5‐year‐old children were administered two tasks measuring knowledge of taxonomic categories at various levels of inclusiveness. Across both matching‐to‐sample and object sorting tasks, the same pattern of categorization development was observed. Mastery of basic‐ and superordinate‐level categories was demonstrated by 4 years of age. Although 5‐year‐old children performed above chance on A–I level categories, their abilities were not as mature as those of adults. Results of this study support and extend previous studies investigating the development of children's understanding of naïve biology during the preschool years.
ISSN:0261-510X
2044-835X
DOI:10.1111/bjdp.12068