Comparing Dimensional Categorization in Natural and Artificial Contexts: A Developmental Study among the Zinacantecos of Mexico

Summary

This study of cognitive processes among the Zinacantecos of Southern Mexico focused on the role of familiarity and cultural relevance in the development of categorization behavior. The major findings were as follows:

1.	The ability to use verbal concepts in sorting and resorting an array of objects developed with age in both schooled and unschooled Zinacantecos.
2.	No aspect of sorting behavior showed a positive effect of familiarity of object domain. On the contrary, grouping and regrouping familiar objects (flowers) by color sometimes was done more poorly than grouping and regrouping unfamiliar objects (rods) because of the irrelevance of the color dimension to flower bouquets in the context of Zinacanteco culture. Flower sellers, moreover, did not sort flowers better than other subjects.
3.	Although the species dimension is relevant to categorizing the culturally familiar flowers, its use as a basis for grouping developed after all other dimensions used in the experiment—color, length, and circumference—probably because of its multidimensional perceptual qualities.