The facilitating effects of iconicity on young children's semantic categorization of Chinese characters

IF 2.5 2区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-23 DOI:10.1016/j.appdev.2025.101909

Wenshuo Li , Jingmei Wang , Changqing Tang , Wenjun Qi , Chenglong Jia , Jinliang Qin

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Iconicity refers to the degree to which a symbol resembles its referent and provides perceptual grounding that supports young children's emerging symbolic understanding. This study investigated how varying levels of iconicity influence the semantic categorization of Chinese characters among children aged 3 to 6 years (N = 135; age range = 3.41–6.30 years; M = 4.61, SD = 0.73; 71 boys). Children completed a categorization task featuring four symbol types that varied in iconicity: line drawings, Dongba script, Oracle Bone script, and simplified Chinese characters. The results showed that the accuracy followed a descending gradient from highly iconic to more abstract symbols: highest for line drawings, followed by Dongba scripts, Oracle Bone scripts, and lowest for simplified Chinese characters. Meanwhile, reaction times were faster for line drawings and Dongba scripts than for the more abstract scripts. These findings indicate that greater iconicity facilitates semantic categorization efficiency during the preschool years. The results highlight the developmental value of using perceptually grounded, highly iconic symbols in early learning materials to scaffold children's transition from visual representations to abstract written language.

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象似性对幼儿汉字语义分类的促进作用

象似性指的是一个符号与其所指物相似的程度，它提供了支持幼儿逐渐形成的符号理解的感性基础。本研究调查了3 ~ 6岁儿童（N = 135，年龄范围3.41 ~ 6.30,M = 4.61, SD = 0.73，男孩71人）不同象似度水平对汉字语义分类的影响。孩子们完成了四种符号类型的分类任务，这些符号类型具有不同的象似性：线条画、东巴文字、甲骨文和简体汉字。结果表明，从高度符号化到更抽象的符号，准确率呈递减趋势：线条图的准确率最高，其次是东巴文字、甲骨文，简体汉字的准确率最低。与此同时，线条画和东巴文字的反应时间比抽象文字要快。研究结果表明，较强的象似性有助于学龄前儿童语义分类效率的提高。研究结果强调了在早期学习材料中使用基于感知的、高度标志性的符号来帮助儿童从视觉表征过渡到抽象的书面语言的发展价值。

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来源期刊

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

3.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology focuses on two key concepts: human development, which refers to the psychological transformations and modifications that occur during the life cycle and influence an individual behavior within the social milieu; and application of knowledge, which is derived from investigating variables in the developmental process. Its contributions cover research that deals with traditional life span markets (age, social roles, biological status, environmental variables) and broadens the scopes of study to include variables that promote understanding of psychological processes and their onset and development within the life span. Most importantly.