Abstract

This study attempts to figure out whether shape similarity plays a role in Korean children's inferences of word meanings. Experiment I included 10 sets of colored pictures of objects familiar to children. In each set, there were one standard picture and three alternatives such as a taxonomic alternative, a shape alternative, and a thematic alternative, The result showed that both 3-and 5-year-olds selected the shape alternatives more often than the taxonomic alternatives (79%-shape vs 18%-taxonomic), whereas adults' responses were strongly biased toward the taxonomic , alternatives (73%). In experiment II, the thematic alternative was excluded from the testing stimuli since the imaginated pictures were used as a standard stimulus. The result in experiment I was replicated. Experiment III and IV examined the developmental trend called "shape-to-taxonomic shift" in mare detail. The result indicated that 7-year-olds showed an increased taxonomic responding (50. 7%-Exp III & 58.3%-Exp IV). In sum, younger children, 3-and 5-year Olds, relied chiefly on shape similarity rather than taxonomic relations as a basis for word meaning extension. There was a significant increase in the relative proportion of taxonomic response in the ward condition with age. The shape-to-taxonomic shift hypothesis was supported.