title: Category label effects on Chinese children's inductive inferences: modulation by perceptual detail and category specificity.
abstract: Inductive generalization of novel properties to same-category or similar-looking objects was studied in Chinese preschool children. The effects of category labels on generalizations were investigated by comparing basic-level labels, superordinate-level labels, and a control phrase applied to three kinds of stimulus materials: colored photographs (Experiment 1), realistic line drawings (Experiment 2), and cartoon-like line drawings (Experiment 3). No significant labeling effects were found for photos and realistic drawings, but there were significant effects for cartoon-like drawings. Children made mostly (>70%) category-based inferences about photographs whether or not labels were provided (Experiment 1). Children showed a bias toward category-based inferences about realistic drawings (Experiment 2) but did so only when labels were provided. Finally, children made mostly appearance-based generalizations for cartoon-like drawings (Experiment 3). However, labels (basic or superordinate level) reduced appearance-based responses. Labeling effects did not depend on having identical labels; however, identical superordinate labels were more effective than different basic-level labels for the least informative stimuli (i.e., cartoons). Thus, labels sometimes confirm the identity of ambiguous items. This evidence of labeling effects in Mandarin-speaking Chinese children extends previous findings beyond English-speaking children and shows that the effects are not narrowly culture and language specific.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Changquan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Gedeon O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Deák
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult