For many years educational practitioners have tended to focus on issues within the child for the causes of special educational needs and or disabilities. However, as the field has developed in professional maturity, a more inclusive approach has now tended to look beyond the child themselves, and recognise that often the cause of the child's…

Investigates children's conceptions of the characteristic features of category members. Hypothesized that (1) children initially perceive category members in terms of individual characteristics and (2) only later do children conceive of category members in terms of shared beliefs and values. Two separate studies confirm the hypotheses. (CMK)