Categorical flexibility and conceptualization

In this study, we explored the development of categorical flexibility in children aged six to nine, which relates to the capacity to change categorical criteria for a concept that is the same. We hypothesized that conceptualization of semantic relations available for children could be a good predictor of the development of categorical flexibility. Indeed, a real understanding of the common relationship between various elements of a category is necessary in order for children to have the ability to be flexible in the use of categorization criteria. Three tasks were presented to six to nine-year-old children and a group of adults: a categorical flexibility task, an assessment of associative strengths between items (strength of the link between two objects evaluated by the participant) and an assessment of conceptualization of relations involved (the understanding of semantic relations). The results showed that conceptualization of the relations predicts a significant part of categorical flexibility, while associative strengths are not involved.