Time to get a new mountain? The role of function in childrenʹs conceptions of natural kinds

Prior research indicates that young children are promiscuously teleological, attributing purpose not only to artifacts, but also to living and non-living natural entities. This study further examines the role of function in childrenʹs reasoning about different object kinds by indirectly probing childrenʹs intuitions about what types of entities can be rendered functionless. Specifically, children were asked to decide whether entities that could no longer perform certain activities should be fixed/replaced (e.g. “Do you need to get a new one?”). Results reveal that young children broadly view both artificial and natural kinds that can no longer perform certain activities as needing to be fixed or replaced. These findings suggest that the teleo-functional bias not only influences childrenʹs explanatory preferences but also their category judgments.