These studies examined the role of ontological beliefs about category boundaries in early categorization. Study 1 found that preschool-age children (N = 48, aged 3–4 years old) have domain-specific beliefs about the meaning of category boundaries; children judged the boundaries of natural kind categories (animal species, human gender) as discrete and strict, but they judged the boundaries of other categories (artifact categories, human race) as more flexible. Study 2 demonstrated that these domain-specific ontological intuitions guide children's learning of new categories; children (N = 28, 3-year-olds) assumed that the boundaries of novel animal categories would be narrower and more strictly defined than novel artifact categories. These data demonstrate that abstract beliefs about the meaning of category boundaries shape early conceptual development.

中文翻译：

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学前本体论：关于类别边界的信念在早期分类中的作用

这些研究检验了关于类别边界的本体论信念在早期分类中的作用。研究 1 发现学龄前儿童（N = 48，年龄 3-4 岁）对类别边界的含义具有特定领域的信念；孩子们将自然种类类别（动物物种、人类性别）的边界判断为离散和严格，但他们将其他类别（人工制品类别、人类）的边界判断为更灵活。研究 2 表明，这些特定领域的本体直觉指导儿童学习新类别；儿童（N = 28，3 岁）假设新动物类别的界限将比新人工制品类别更窄、更严格。