Category-based coordinate inferences with the basic-level terms in both the premise and the conclusion statements were examined based on the assumptions that the subjects make inferences by relating the premise to the conclusion terms and that the inferences are facilitated by providing information which relates the two terms. In Experiment 1, when the taxonomic or the functional information common to three inference tasks was provided before the premise statement, adults' (N= 36) inferences were facilitated significantly by the taxonomic and slightly by the functional information, but children's (N= 36) inferences were not facilitated. In Experiment 2 the taxonomic or the functional information which is specific to each inference task was provided between the two statements or before the premise statements. Children's (N=115) inferences were significantly facilitated when the taxonomic information was given between the two statements. Children made inferences more efficiently when the information was provided between the two statements than when provided before the premise statements. Thus children's coordinate inferences depend on the position and the type of information which relates the premise to the conclusion category terms.

Key words: coordinate inference, taxonomic relation, functional relation