Color, form, and function as dimensions of natural classification: developmental changes in eye movements, reaction time, and response strategies.

Behavior of 5-year-olds and adults was measured in a matching-to-sample task using pictures of familiar objects and events. Subjects matched on properties of color, form, function, or compounds of those cues. On the basis of reaction times and eye movements, inferences could be made about the subjects' classification processes, and also about their strategies for dealing with the task environment. Certain processes were executed as efficiently by 5-year-olds as by the adults. Other processes showed developmental differences. Form properties, while difficult for children to extract, appeared to be utilized by them in the classification of familiar objects, even though other properties were available.