Form-function correlations in 10- and 14-month-old infants' categorization
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the developmental changes that occur in categorization during infancy. Experiment 1 examined whether and when infants use form-function correlations as a basis for category judgments. Using an habituation procedure, 10- and 14-month-old infants were familiarized with videotaped scenes demonstrating correlations between an object's form and function. Results indicated that infants as young as 10 months of age use form-function correlations as a basis for categorization. Both 10- and 14-month-olds generalized habituation to a new object that maintained the familiar form-function correlation and dishabituated to a similar looking object which violated the familiar form-function correlation. Experiment 2 investigated whether infants use form-function correlations to make inferences about unseen functional properties of novel objects. Following visual familiarization demonstrating form-function correlations, in an exploratory play test, infants were presented with novel objects with similar looking parts. Fourteen-month-olds but not 10-month-olds were able to use the knowledge of form-function correlations to guide their actions toward the novel objects. Presented with objects similar in appearance to objects seen during familiarization, 14-month-old infants tried to reproduce the unseen functional properties of the novel objects. The age difference found in Experiment 2 is discussed in relation to underlying cognitive processes and characteristics of tasks.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Younger-Rossmann, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Cognitive therapy
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