Visual appearance is one of the main cues children rely on when categorizing novel objects. In 3 studies, testing 128 3-year-olds and 192 5-year-olds, we investigated how various kinds of information may differentially lead children to overlook visual appearance in their categorization decisions across domains. Participants saw novel animals or…

Examined perception of object unity in partial occlusion in 72 infants. Recorded how long subjects looked at a display of complete and incomplete rods. In test and control conditions, infants looked longer at broken rods than at complete rods, suggesting that infants' cognitive, visual, or attentional skills may be insufficient to support…

Results showed that, contrary to predictions based on standard models of the logical time concept, long and short conditions were easier for children to solve than the traditional four- versus seven-second condition. Children were able to solve problems that are logically impossible to solve on the basis of nontemporal information. (Author/RH)

This study investigated the development of understanding of animate and inanimate items in 52 children between 4 and 7 years of age. (Author/JMB)

Rejoinder to article PS 502 129. (MB)

The utility of Heider's model for specifying relations between perceived properties of an act and the attributed intentionality of the act is explored empirically with children of varying ages. (Author/ED)

Four-year-olds were reliably accurate about movement potentials for the categories of mammals, nonmammalian animals, statues of animals, wheeled vehicles, and multipart, rigid objects. The three-year-olds' scores were significantly above chance in all categories but animals. Analyses showed that children were concerned about the cause of movement…

Two experiments investigated why perceptual pretraining facilitates children's performance on concept problems involving a nonpreferred relevant dimension and preferred irrelevant dimensions. (JMB)

The role of stimulus preference and various subject and task variables in the solution of matrix-completion problems were examined using children at 4 and 6 years of age. Age, the number of stimulus categories, the type of drawing, and the specific matrix stimulus categories taken individually and in combination were found to have significant…

Study analyzes figures children make with playdough, a different medium that provides evidence related to two opposing theories of the development of representation. (Author)

Four studies examined the influence of essentialist information such as internal properties and perceptual similarity on 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds' interpretations of labels. Results suggested that children have essentialist beliefs about animals, but not about artifacts, and that these beliefs interact with children's assumptions about word meaning…

Examines how children's responses to questions about object terms varied across objects and the degree to which children specified common and conventional values for different object dimensions. (HOD)

Author challenges the findings of Helene Borke who presented evidence interpreted as demonstrating that children as young as 3 years of age were able to successfully abandon their own egocentric perspectives and adopt the points of view of others. Rejoinder by Borke is presented in PS 502 130. (MB)

Test performance across age groups followed a highly significant linear trend. (Authors)

Assesses second-, fourth-, and eighth-grade children's perception of the social support provided by friends. (HOD)