The Effect of Instructions on Categorization Bases in Children and Adults

5 -yr. -olds and adults were presented one sample and three alternative drawings which related with the sample thematically, perceptually, or taxonomically, and required to select one of the alternatives under three types of instruction: the one which was most like the sample, the one which was the same as the sample, and the one which was the same group as the sample. When the instruction conditions were pooled, children selected the perceptual alternative most often while adults selected the taxonomic one most often. Children and adults selected the thematic one least often. For "most like" instruction, children and adults selected the perceptual alternative most often but it was selected more often by children than by adults. For "the same group" instruction, children and adults selected the taxonomic alternative most often but it was selected more often by adults than by children. For "the same" instruction, children selected the perceptual alternative most often but the taxonomic one much less often, whereas adults selected the taxonomic one most often but the perceptual one very few times. The findings were discussed with reference to the previous studies and the developmental theories of cognition and learning. It was concluded that although there is the age-constrained biases from iconic and perceptual to symbolic and conceptual ones, children as well as adults show flexibility which can categorize objects by different bases depending on several factors such as instructions