Subjects' preferences for function vs form or for function vs color were tested using a method of triads. Children (16 girls, 24 boys) and adults (65 women, 17 men) showed a strong preference for function over color and adults also for function over form. Color-function concept identification was better when function was the relevant dimension. These data indicate that function can be assessed like physical dimensions, that function is more preferred than or as preferred as other dimensions by children and adults and that responses to preference tests are applicable over a wide range of dimensions and ages.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
EspositoN. J. (1975) Effect of dimensional preference on adult shift learning: Some developmental implications. Developmental Psychology, 11, 851–852. (a)
2.
EspositoN. J. (1975) Review of discrimination-shift learning in young children. Psychological Bulletin, 82, 432–455. (b)
3.
LucarielloJ.NelsonK. (1985) Slot-filler categories as memory organizers for young children. Developmental Psychology, 21, 272–282.
4.
MedinD. L. (1973) Measuring and training dimensional preferences. Child Development, 44, 359–362.
5.
NelsonK. (1973) Some evidence for the cognitive primacy of categorization and its functional basis. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly of Behavior and Development, 19, 21–39.
6.
NelsonK. (1974) Concept, word, and sentence: Interrelations in acquisition and development. Psychological Review, 81, 267–285.
7.
OdomR. D.GuzmanR. D. (1972) Development of hierarchies of dimensional salience. Developmental Psychology, 6, 271–287.
8.
RichmanC. L.SelveyS. (1977) Dimensional preference changes as a function of overtraining. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 9, 230–232.
