FIGURE 6.10 Shape bias In one of many studies of the shape bias, children were shown the exemplar at the top of this figure and told that it was a “dax” (or some other nonsense word). Then they were asked which of the objects below the exemplar was also a “dax.” The numbers under the objects indicate the proportion of children who thought each object was a “dax.” As you can see, they most often thought that the word referred to the object that was of the same shape as the exemplar, even if the surface texture or size was different. (Adapted from Landau, Smith, & Jones, 1988)