Leaf Logic: Visual Context and Children's Medicinal Plant Generalization

How do young children decide which plants share medicinal properties like “helps someone feel better”? This study tests whether visual background context (natural vs. plain) influences 3- to 10-year-olds’ inductive generalization from target medicinal plants to novel plants in a tablet-based categorization game. Children view a medicinal target plant on an iPad (e.g., "This plant helps with tummy aches") presented on either a grassy or plain background, then choose which of two new plants shares the property. They tap either the matching target species or a moderately visually similar non-medicinal distractor. Across 16 randomized trials + 1 practice, an experimenter provides verbal guidance and records responses without feedback. Findings reveal how visual cues shape early folk biology and inductive reasoning, typically perceptual-similarity driven. Results clarify developmental shifts to category-based thinking, informing health education and visual media for teaching plant knowledge