How specific is the shape bias?
Children tend to extend object names on the basis of sameness of shape, rather than size, color, or material-a tendency that has been dubbed the "shape bias." Is the shape bias the result of well-learned associations between words and objects? Or does it exist because of a general belief that shape is a good indicator of object category membership? The present three studies addressed this debate by exploring whether the shape bias is specific to naming. In Study 1, 3-year-olds showed the shape bias both when asked to extend a novel name and when asked to select an object of the same kind as a target object. Study 2 found the same shape bias when children were asked to generalize properties relevant to category membership. Study 3 replicated the findings from Study 1 with 2-year-olds. These findings suggest that the shape bias derives from children's beliefs about object kinds and is not the product of associative learning.
Diesendruck
Gil
G
Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. dieseng@mail.biu.ac.il
Bloom
Paul
P
D001245:Association Learning; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation