title: Do lions have manes? For children, generics are about kinds rather than quantities.
abstract: Generic statements (e.g., "Lions have manes") make claims about kinds (e.g., lions as a category) and, for adults, are distinct from quantificational statements (e.g., "Most lions have manes"), which make claims about how many individuals have a given property. This article examined whether young children also understand that generics do not depend purely on quantitative information. Five-year-olds (n = 36) evaluated pairs of questions expressing properties that were matched in prevalence but varied in whether adults accept them as generically true (e.g., "Do lions have manes?" [true] vs. "Are lions boys?" [false]). Results demonstrated that children evaluate generics based on more than just quantitative information. Data suggest that even young children recognize that generics make claims about kinds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA. acb210@lehigh.edu
authors.forename: Amanda C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Brandone
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cimpian
authors.forename: Sarah-Jane
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Leslie
authors.forename: Susan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Gelman
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001245:Association Learning; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012660:Semantics; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D055815:Young Adult