Nameability supports rule‐based category learning in children and adults

Abstract

The present study tested the hypothesis that verbal labels support category induction by providing compact hypotheses. Ninety‐seven 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children (M = 63.2 months; 46 female, 51 male; 77% White, 8% more than one race, 4% Asian, and 3% Black; tested 2018) and 90 adults (M = 20.1 years; 70 female, 20 male) in the Midwestern United States learned novel categories with features that were easy (e.g., “red”) or difficult (e.g., “mauve”) to name. Adults (d = 1.06) and—to a lesser extent—children (d = 0.57; final training block) learned categories composed of more nameable features better. Children's knowledge of difficult‐to‐name color words predicted their learning for categories with difficult‐to‐name features. Rule‐based category learning may be supported by the emerging ability to form verbal hypotheses.