Factors Affecting Analytic and Holistic Modes in Children's Classification Learning

Abstract

Kindergarten children, aged 5 to 6 yr. (119 boys, 121 girls) were given a 2-category classification task under the “Go together” or the “Are alike” instruction and assessed the categorization modes (analytic and holistic) after reaching each of three criteria of learning (4/4, 8/8, and 8/8 + 8). The tasks with strong or weak family-resemblance structure were provided. The exemplars were schematic faces of boys (Exp. 1) and schematic figures of girls (Exp. 2). The analytic mode was used for the weak family-resemblance task and for the schematic faces more frequently than for the strong resemblance task and for the schematic girls. With increasing criteria of learning, the percentages of the subjects who used the analytic mode increased while those who used the holistic mode decreased. The findings were discussed with reference to the stimulus characteristics, the family-resemblance structure, and the developmental trend of categorization modes.