Preschooler's Ability To Decide Whether a Photographed Unfamiliar Object Can Move Itself

Does the preschooler's use of the animate-inanimate distinction reflect knowledge about which category types engage in self-initiated movements? Threeand 4-year-olds viewed photographs of unfamiliar objects, including mammalian animals, nonmammalian animals, statues with animallike forms and parts, wheeled vehicles, and multipart rigid objects, and decided whether each item could go up and down a hill by itself. Four-year-olds were reliably accurate about the movement potentials for each of the five classes of items; 3-year-olds' scores were significantly above chance in all but one category. Analyses of rule use and verbalization data showed that children were concerned about cause of movement and used an animate-inanimate hierarchy. Explanations from both age groups varied, in a consistent manner, the kind of information and criteria used to make inferences as function of the type of item. We discuss how these data bear on a theory of concepts.