Rule-Based Category Learning in Children: The Role of Age and Executive Functioning
Figure 1
Rule-based category structure.
The vertical line separating Category A and Category B represents the strategy that maximizes categorization accuracy (Ashby & Gott, 1988). Points on the left are members of Category A and points on the right are members of Category B. The learner must base responding on the frequency dimension while ignoring irrelevant variation on the orientation dimension. The optimal rule could be phrased as: “Crystal balls with few lines go in Category A, crystal balls with many lines go in Category B”.