Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments (AEPA) Early Childhood Education Practice Test

In educational psychology, which concept refers to the ability to categorize objects by shared characteristics?

1. Seriation

2. Classification

3. Conservation

4. Conceptualization

The correct answer is: Classification

The concept that refers to the ability to categorize objects by shared characteristics is known as classification. Classification involves organizing items based on specific traits or properties they have in common, which helps children make sense of their environment and understand relationships between different objects. For example, children may classify animals into categories such as mammals, reptiles, and birds based on shared characteristics like body covering or reproductive methods. This skill is an essential cognitive development marker in early childhood education, as it demonstrates a child's ability to engage in analytical thinking and contributes to their overall understanding of the world around them. Classification supports further learning in areas such as science and mathematics, as it lays the foundation for understanding more complex concepts, such as taxonomy or set theory. The other concepts listed, such as seriation, conservation, and conceptualization, relate to different cognitive processes: seriation pertains to arranging objects in a sequence based on size or other properties; conservation refers to the understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance; and conceptualization involves forming abstract concepts based on experiences. While these are important cognitive skills, they do not specifically address the process of categorizing objects, which is the heart of classification.