中文摘要：

探讨了6岁儿童的类别学习能力、类别表征和分类策略。62名儿童参加了实验，实验1采用了“5／4模型”类别结构，实验2采用了“3／3类别结构”。结果发现：6岁儿童已经具备了一定的类别学习能力；相对于原型表征，6岁儿童更倾向于进行样例表征；6岁儿童在注意上具有定位在高典型性特征维度上的能力，但不具备定位在区分性特征维度上的能力；在类别学习策略上主要采用单维度分类策略和规则加例外的分类策略。

英文摘要：

This paper explores 6-year-old children＇s category representation and learning strategies. Category learning is a fundamental ability through which human beings acquire and organize new knowledge about the world （Ashby, 2005）, and is critical for normal cognitive development. There are three major theories or models of how categories are represented： Rule-based, Prototype-based, and Exemplar-based models. Rule-based models assume that category learning is a process of discovering an explicit rule to maximize accuracy （Ashby, 2005; Seger, 2006）. Prototype-based models assume that stimuli are categorized on the basis of their similarity to category prototypes stored in memory （Rosch ＆ Mervis, 1975; Smith, Chapman, ＆ Redford, 2010; Coutinho, Redford, ＆ Smith, 2010）. A category prototype is generally defined as the average, or most typical, member of a category. Exemplar-based models assume that the categorization of a new exemplar is based on the similarity of the new exemplar to the representations of all previously encountered exemplars stored in memory （Medin ＆ Schaffer, 1978; Kruschke, 1992; Nosofsky, 1992）. Previous studies suggest that 6-year-old children have developed some ability to use category knowledge to solve problems （Wilburn ＆ Feeney, 2008; Sloutsky ＆ Lo, 1999; Sloutsky ＆ Fisher, 2001）. Furthermore, several critical aspects of category learning are acquired at this age. Fang, Fang, ＆ Xi （1991） pointed out that 6-year-old is a critical period for children to learn to understand the relation between the whole and the part of a subject. Yin （1996） further suggested that 6 years is an important age to learn superordinate categories （for example, the category ＂furniture＂）. Two category structures were used in this study. Experiment 1 used the ＂5/4 category structure＂ from Medin and Schaffer （1978） and experiment 2 used the ＂3/3 category structure＂ from Yamauchi, Love, ＆ Markman （2002）. The category structures were adapted in orde