Reports experiments on the symbolic distance effect and related phenomena with six- and nine-year-old children. The effect was obtained for lexical and pictorial input; pictures produced faster responses than words; congruity effects occurred in the pictorial condition. Asymmetry in subjects' capacity to verify statements of relation was found,…

Demonstrates young children's shift toward a taxonomic basis for organization of both named and depicted objects. Concludes that perceptual organization in young children cannot be attributed to an inability to ignore visual information but seems to be based upon the centrality of perceptual features to the representation of objects. (Author/NH)

Examines the relative utility of exemplar and linguistic information for acquiring basic and superordinate categories. Developmental differences were predicted in the ability to benefit from the linguistically specified information. Preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children were tested. (Author/SS)