Abstract
Preschoolers, third graders, and adults, in three types of triads, performed under one of three conditions. The three types of triads were : (1) same-level concept triads, in which a target and a taxonomic stimuli were connected by a same-level concept [e.g., apple (target) / grapes (stimuli) : fruit (concept)] ; (2) superordinate triads, in which the target and stimuli were subsumed under a superordinate concept (e.g., apple / carrot : food) ; and (3) functionally related triads, in which the target and stimuli were related in terms of function (e.g., leg / hand : body parts). The three conditions were as follows : (1) concept / related word-labeling condition "CC" where subjects were given a concept or a word related to the target word (e.g., "fruit" or "apartofbody") ; (2) instance-labeling condition "IC" where they were given the objects name (eg., "apple" or "leg") ; and (3) no-labeling condition "NC" where they were not given any label. The results showed that : in under the IC, preschoolers and the third graders made more taxnomic responses than did adults. In addition, under the CC, third graders and adults made more taxnomic responses than did preschoolers, although this was the case only for superordinate and functionally related triads. These results were interpreted in terms of age differences in the utilization of concept labels for taxonomic responses.
