Culture, domain specificity and conceptual change: Natural kind and artifact concepts

The work reported here is a sociocultural investigation of the domain specificity of conceptual change, focusing on natural kind and artifact concepts. Participants from rural, urban and elite groups among the Yoruba of western Nigeria judged the identity of familiar natural kinds and artifacts that had undergone superficial transformations, and provided explanations for their category judgments. The social and material conditions typifying each group of participants were hypothesized to affect differentially the race and degree of conceptual change. The results indicated that the most marked developmental change occurred in the rural group. Overall, the results support the domain specificity of conceptual change as found in studies with American participants, and underscore the need for. closer examination of socio-cultural factors influencing such change.