The Developmental Research Of Semantic Categorical Flexibility

Classification as a basic cognitive function of the human brain,playing a very important role in the human life,which is an important scientific method.It can make complex things simple,reduce cognitive load and improve efficiency.Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to simultaneously handle multiple aspects of information,that is,to maintain two or more rules at the same time,and flexibly convert between rules.The semantic categorical flexibility as a special field of cognitive flexibility,can be defined as the ability to manage multiple memberships of objects by selecting the relevant representation for a given situation.Which includes responding flexibility and conceptual flexibility.In this study,individuals from different ages were selected to participate in the experiment,and the developmental characteristics of semantic classification flexibility were comprehensively understood by comparing age differences.This study was divided into 3 experiments,the subjects were randomly selected in the children,youth and the elderly group,the proportion of men and women was appropriate,and the subjects of the 3 experiments were independent.Experiment 1 uses the pictures as semantic categorical materials,divided into two different forms: "taxonomic-taxonomic-thematic" and " thematic-thematic-taxonomic ",and examines the differences of individuals at different ages.As the Chinese characters and image processing channel is inconsistent,experimental 2 use Chinese characters as the materials.Its’ procedures and experiments consistent with experiment 1.The experiment 3 removed the semantic factors,simply study the categorical flexibility,so as to verify the factors that affect the semantic classification flexibility of subjects.According to the experimental results,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)There is age difference in semantic classification flexibility,the performance of young people is better than that of children and the elderly,and the performance of children in some projects is slightly better than that of old age.(2)The semantic classification flexibility of the picture and the semantic classification flexibility of the words are different.In the face of semantic transformation,the word conversion process is harder than the picture;(3)Two forms of semantic classification "taxonomic-taxonomic-thematic" and " thematic-thematic-taxonomic ",and people are more likely to classify the category.The character of the Chinese character helps the subject to the taxonomic.(4)Both experiments have demonstrated that the concept of 8-year-old children is poorly maintained and converted,and children aged 9 to 10 are in transition,while the 11-year-old children are in a transitional period,12-year-old children’s development has been basically perfect.(5)The differences in semantic categorization of different individuals are affected by both semantic and cognitive factors.