Brazilian children and adults were presented with a series of picture triads, each composed of a target picture and two choice pictures. One of the choice pictures (e.g., honey) was thematically related to the target (e.g., bee), while the other (e.g., butterfly) bore a taxonomic relation to it. Participants were asked either for the picture that "looked like" the target or for the one that "went best with" it. The results questioned the hypothesis of a conceptual preference shift across development. At all age levels, participants in the "looks like" condition chose the taxonomic alternative more often than the thematic alternative. However, except for the youngest group, who did not respond consistently, participants in the "goes best with" condition chose the thematic alternative more often than the taxonomic alternative.
Conceptual organization; taxonomic organization; thematic organization
