Categorization in early infancy and the continuity of development.
Arguments and evidence are presented for the conclusion that the young infant's perceptually based categorical representations for natural kinds--animals in this case--are the basis for their mature conceptual counterparts. In addition, it is argued that conceptual development is continuous in nature and without the need for special developmental processes. A consideration of the development of the syllabic, segmental, and featural categories of phonology shows a more complex pattern of change--one marked by both continuities and discontinuities in the representations themselves and the processes that produce them.
Eimas
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PD
Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02902.
D001288:Attention; D003210:Concept Formation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007804:Language Development; D010700:Phonetics; D002666:Psychology, Child; D014825:Vocabulary