Imaging methods have caused a revolution in cognitive science for research on adult brain functio... more Imaging methods have caused a revolution in cognitive science for research on adult brain function. It is clear that many of these neuroscience methods can be applied to younger populations to investigate the relationship between cognition and brain development. The goal of this chapter is to describe the feasibility of using optical imaging on human infants. The motivation for using
This research asks whether analogical processing ability is present in human infants, using the s... more This research asks whether analogical processing ability is present in human infants, using the simplest and most basic relation-the same-different relation. Experiment 1 (N = 26) tested whether 7- and 9-month-olds spontaneously detect and generalize these relations from a single example, as previous research has suggested. The attempted replication failed. Experiment 2 asked whether infants could abstract the relation via analogical processing (Experiment 2, N = 64). Indeed, with four exemplars, 7- and 9-month-olds could abstract the same-different relation and generalize it to novel pairs. Furthermore, prior experience with the objects disrupted learning. Facilitation from multiple exemplars and disruption by individual object salience are signatures of analogical learning. These results indicate that analogical ability is present by 7 months.
Our concepts of the physical world distinguish objects, such as chairs, from substances, such as ... more Our concepts of the physical world distinguish objects, such as chairs, from substances, such as quantities of wood, that constitute them. A particular chair might consist of a single chunk of wood, yet we think about the chair and the wood in different ways. For example, part of the wood is still wood, but part of the chair is not a chair. In this article we examine the basis of the object/substance distinction. We draw together for the first time relevant experiments widely dispersed in the cognitive literature, and view these findings in the light of theories in linguistics and metaphysics. We outline a framework for the difference between objects and substances, based on earlier ideas about form and matter, describing the psychological evidence surrounding it. The framework suggests that concepts of objects include a relation of unity and organization governing their parts, whereas concepts of substances do not. We propose, as a novel twist on this framework, that unity and orga...
Infants can track small groups of solid objects, and infants can respond when these quantities ch... more Infants can track small groups of solid objects, and infants can respond when these quantities change. But earlier work is equivocal about whether infants can track continuous substances, such as piles of sand. Experiment 1 (N = 88) used a habituation paradigm to show infants can register changes in the size of piles of sand that they see poured from a container when there is a 1-to-4 ratio. Experiment 2 (N = 82) tested whether infants could discriminate a 1-to-2 ratio. The results demonstrate that females could discriminate the difference but males could not. These findings constitute the youngest evidence of successful quantity discriminations for a noncohesive substance and begin to characterize the nature of the representation for noncohesive entities.
The present research examined whether infants acquire general principles or more specific rules w... more The present research examined whether infants acquire general principles or more specific rules when learning about physical events. Experiments 1 and 2 investigated 4.5-month-old infants' ability to judge how much of a tall object should be hidden when lowered behind an occluder versus inside a container. The results indicated that at this age infants are able to reason about height in occlusion but not containment events. Experiment 3 showed that this latter ability does not emerge until about 7.5 months of age. The marked discrepancy in infants' reasoning about height in occlusion and containment events suggests that infants sort events into distinct categories, and acquire separate rules for each category.
Many studies have established that 2-month-old infants have knowledge of solid objects' basic phy... more Many studies have established that 2-month-old infants have knowledge of solid objects' basic physical properties. Evidence about infants' understanding of nonsolid substances, however, is relatively sparse and equivocal. We present two experiments demonstrating that 5-month-old infants have distinct expectations for how solids and liquids behave. Experiment 1 showed that infants use the motion cues from the surface of a contained liquid or solid to predict whether it will pour or tumble from a cup if the cup is upended. Experiment 2 extended these findings to show that motion cues lead to distinct expectations about whether a new object will pass through or remain on top of a substance. Together, these experiments demonstrate that 5-month-old infants are able to use movement cues and solidity to discriminate a liquid from an object of similar appearance, providing the earliest evidence that infants can reason about nonsolid substances.
In a series of 3 experiments, the authors examined 6-and 8-month-old infants' capacities to detec... more In a series of 3 experiments, the authors examined 6-and 8-month-old infants' capacities to detect target actions in a continuous action sequence. In Experiment 1, infants were habituated to 2 different target actions and subsequently were presented with 2 continuous action sequences that either included or did not include the familiar target actions. Infants looked significantly longer at the sequences that were novel. Experiment 2 presented the habituation and test trials in the reverse order. The results showed that infants habituated to the sequence still showed reliable evidence of recognizing the target action during the test trials. Experiment 3 was comparable to Experiment 2, except it tested whether infants could detect a different event segment, namely the transitions between events. The results showed that infants did not discriminate between test trials suggesting that transitions between events are not as easy for infants to recognize.
Neonates prefer human speech to other nonlinguistic auditory stimuli. However, it remains an open... more Neonates prefer human speech to other nonlinguistic auditory stimuli. However, it remains an open question whether there are any conceptual consequences of words on object categorization in infants younger than 6 months. The current study examined the influence of words and tones on object categorization in forty-six 3-to 4-month-old infants. Infants were familiarized to different exemplars of a category accompanied by either a labeling phrase or a tone sequence. In test, infants viewed novel and new within-category exemplars. Infants who heard labeling phrases provided evidence of categorization at test while infants who heard tone sequences did not, suggesting that infants as young as 3 months of age treat words and tones differently vis-a-vis object categorization.
In the present research, 6-month-old infants consistently searched for a tall toy behind a tall a... more In the present research, 6-month-old infants consistently searched for a tall toy behind a tall as opposed to a short occluder. However, when the same toy was hidden inside a tall or a short container, only older, 7.5-month-old infants searched for the tall toy inside the tall container. These and control results (1) confirm previous violation-of-expectation (VOE) findings of a décalage in infants' reasoning about height information in occlusion and containment events; (2) cast doubt on the suggestion that VOE tasks overestimate infants' cognitive abilities; and (3) support recent proposals that infants use their physical knowledge to guide their actions when task demands do not overwhelm their limited processing resources.
Imaging methods have caused a revolution in cognitive science for research on adult brain functio... more Imaging methods have caused a revolution in cognitive science for research on adult brain function. It is clear that many of these neuroscience methods can be applied to younger populations to investigate the relationship between cognition and brain development. The goal of this chapter is to describe the feasibility of using optical imaging on human infants. The motivation for using
This research asks whether analogical processing ability is present in human infants, using the s... more This research asks whether analogical processing ability is present in human infants, using the simplest and most basic relation-the same-different relation. Experiment 1 (N = 26) tested whether 7- and 9-month-olds spontaneously detect and generalize these relations from a single example, as previous research has suggested. The attempted replication failed. Experiment 2 asked whether infants could abstract the relation via analogical processing (Experiment 2, N = 64). Indeed, with four exemplars, 7- and 9-month-olds could abstract the same-different relation and generalize it to novel pairs. Furthermore, prior experience with the objects disrupted learning. Facilitation from multiple exemplars and disruption by individual object salience are signatures of analogical learning. These results indicate that analogical ability is present by 7 months.
Our concepts of the physical world distinguish objects, such as chairs, from substances, such as ... more Our concepts of the physical world distinguish objects, such as chairs, from substances, such as quantities of wood, that constitute them. A particular chair might consist of a single chunk of wood, yet we think about the chair and the wood in different ways. For example, part of the wood is still wood, but part of the chair is not a chair. In this article we examine the basis of the object/substance distinction. We draw together for the first time relevant experiments widely dispersed in the cognitive literature, and view these findings in the light of theories in linguistics and metaphysics. We outline a framework for the difference between objects and substances, based on earlier ideas about form and matter, describing the psychological evidence surrounding it. The framework suggests that concepts of objects include a relation of unity and organization governing their parts, whereas concepts of substances do not. We propose, as a novel twist on this framework, that unity and orga...
Infants can track small groups of solid objects, and infants can respond when these quantities ch... more Infants can track small groups of solid objects, and infants can respond when these quantities change. But earlier work is equivocal about whether infants can track continuous substances, such as piles of sand. Experiment 1 (N = 88) used a habituation paradigm to show infants can register changes in the size of piles of sand that they see poured from a container when there is a 1-to-4 ratio. Experiment 2 (N = 82) tested whether infants could discriminate a 1-to-2 ratio. The results demonstrate that females could discriminate the difference but males could not. These findings constitute the youngest evidence of successful quantity discriminations for a noncohesive substance and begin to characterize the nature of the representation for noncohesive entities.
The present research examined whether infants acquire general principles or more specific rules w... more The present research examined whether infants acquire general principles or more specific rules when learning about physical events. Experiments 1 and 2 investigated 4.5-month-old infants' ability to judge how much of a tall object should be hidden when lowered behind an occluder versus inside a container. The results indicated that at this age infants are able to reason about height in occlusion but not containment events. Experiment 3 showed that this latter ability does not emerge until about 7.5 months of age. The marked discrepancy in infants' reasoning about height in occlusion and containment events suggests that infants sort events into distinct categories, and acquire separate rules for each category.
Many studies have established that 2-month-old infants have knowledge of solid objects' basic phy... more Many studies have established that 2-month-old infants have knowledge of solid objects' basic physical properties. Evidence about infants' understanding of nonsolid substances, however, is relatively sparse and equivocal. We present two experiments demonstrating that 5-month-old infants have distinct expectations for how solids and liquids behave. Experiment 1 showed that infants use the motion cues from the surface of a contained liquid or solid to predict whether it will pour or tumble from a cup if the cup is upended. Experiment 2 extended these findings to show that motion cues lead to distinct expectations about whether a new object will pass through or remain on top of a substance. Together, these experiments demonstrate that 5-month-old infants are able to use movement cues and solidity to discriminate a liquid from an object of similar appearance, providing the earliest evidence that infants can reason about nonsolid substances.
In a series of 3 experiments, the authors examined 6-and 8-month-old infants' capacities to detec... more In a series of 3 experiments, the authors examined 6-and 8-month-old infants' capacities to detect target actions in a continuous action sequence. In Experiment 1, infants were habituated to 2 different target actions and subsequently were presented with 2 continuous action sequences that either included or did not include the familiar target actions. Infants looked significantly longer at the sequences that were novel. Experiment 2 presented the habituation and test trials in the reverse order. The results showed that infants habituated to the sequence still showed reliable evidence of recognizing the target action during the test trials. Experiment 3 was comparable to Experiment 2, except it tested whether infants could detect a different event segment, namely the transitions between events. The results showed that infants did not discriminate between test trials suggesting that transitions between events are not as easy for infants to recognize.
Neonates prefer human speech to other nonlinguistic auditory stimuli. However, it remains an open... more Neonates prefer human speech to other nonlinguistic auditory stimuli. However, it remains an open question whether there are any conceptual consequences of words on object categorization in infants younger than 6 months. The current study examined the influence of words and tones on object categorization in forty-six 3-to 4-month-old infants. Infants were familiarized to different exemplars of a category accompanied by either a labeling phrase or a tone sequence. In test, infants viewed novel and new within-category exemplars. Infants who heard labeling phrases provided evidence of categorization at test while infants who heard tone sequences did not, suggesting that infants as young as 3 months of age treat words and tones differently vis-a-vis object categorization.
In the present research, 6-month-old infants consistently searched for a tall toy behind a tall a... more In the present research, 6-month-old infants consistently searched for a tall toy behind a tall as opposed to a short occluder. However, when the same toy was hidden inside a tall or a short container, only older, 7.5-month-old infants searched for the tall toy inside the tall container. These and control results (1) confirm previous violation-of-expectation (VOE) findings of a décalage in infants' reasoning about height information in occlusion and containment events; (2) cast doubt on the suggestion that VOE tasks overestimate infants' cognitive abilities; and (3) support recent proposals that infants use their physical knowledge to guide their actions when task demands do not overwhelm their limited processing resources.
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Papers by Susan Hespos