*Sees a dog*, "Doggy!!" *Sees a cat*, "Doggy!!"

Now in this article titled A Computational Account of the Development of the Generalization of shape information, the researchers find evidence that says the complete opposite of what the last article tells us about how children learn Object recognition. They claim that younger children view shapes "more metrically, or holistically" and then as they get older they start to view them more in terms of specific categories. The researchers explain their findings using a method of testing known as the "DORA model" which is a "connectionist network that learns structured (symbolic) representations of relations from unstructured (holistic) inputs". In other words, it is a system that can provide accurate simulations of how a child's learning ability changes from novel to relational with age. It does so through the use of analogical mapping to group objects that have a "semantic" or broad sense of shared properties/characteristics. Then as the program engages in repetitious learning of stimuli it is able to make out small, individualistic differences between two objects and group them accordingly as well as develop a refined knowledge of what defines an object (such as the word "small animal" used in the study to define a mouse and a hummingbird). The researchers ran two simulations via DORA as if it were a young child and as if it were an adult and compared them to actual children and adult participants and they found a strikingly similar correlation in the way object recognition occurred.

I bet you're wondering, so which ones is it? And how do I get my child to stop calling the cat "doggy"?  Well to be honest learning doesn't just happen one way, and if you really look at the two articles they do provide similar evidence in that generally, younger children are better at a sort of "abstract" recognition. To me this means that they are better at taking a relatively "abstract" view of an object (holistic view as stated in this article), and will focus on a specific feature like how a cat and a dog both have four legs and a tail (category-specific feature as stated in the previous article) and will identify that object based on those things. But as we get older we tend to rely more on the specific details that distinguish the two, like how a cat has long whiskers and meows and a dog doesn't have prominent whiskers and barks.

So don't get discouraged if it looks like your child is having a hard time telling an apple from an onion right now, just keep practicing we'll get there! :)

#TODDLERTIP... Have you heard of education.com? Well, they are a GREAT resource to have with helping your child be able to identify and group objects. They have a plethora of worksheets that you can print off right at home and use. Follow the URL in my references below to get started today!!!

References

Doumas, L. A., & Hummel, J. E. (2010). A computational account of the development of the generalization of 
shape information. Cognitive science, 34(4), 698-712.


https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/06/02/which-are-better-dogs-cats/AI4Y6IPgjY15lVaCh2RWhO/story.html

https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/make-pair-1/