CLPS 0610 Questions 21-30

What was Onishi and Baillargeon’s (2005) experiment on infants’ understanding of false belief? Why do infants perform as they do on this experiment, but do not succeed on some false belief tasks (like the candles-crayon box task) until they are age 4? (Hint: there is no right answer to this question – pick a side and support your answer the best you can).

Onishi and Baillargeon (2005) tested 15-month-old infants' understanding of false belief using a violation-of-expectation paradigm. Infants saw an actor place an object in one container, leave, and then the object was moved. When the actor returned, infants looked longer if the actor searched in the wrong container, suggesting they understood the actor's false belief. Infants succeed in this task but fail on more complex false belief tasks, like the candles-crayon box task, until age 4. This difference may be because the Onishi and Baillargeon experiment requires less verbal reasoning and social context, making it easier for infants to understand, while tasks like the candles-crayon box task need more advanced cognitive abilities to grasp the idea that others can hold beliefs different from their own.

What is the A-not-B error?  At what point does it emerge?  At what point do children stop making it?  In class, I never talked about why infants might stop making this error. For the last part of this question, speculate as to why.

The A-not-B error occurs when infants, after repeatedly being shown an object hidden in location A, search for the object in location A even after it is hidden in location B. This error typically emerges around 8 to 12 months of age, during the sensorimotor stage, particularly around the substage where infants develop object permanence. Infants usually stop making this error by around 12 to 18 months when they gain more control over their motor skills and cognitive processes, such as the ability to inhibit prior behaviors. The error likely decreases as infants improve in their understanding of object permanence, develop better memory, and become more flexible in their behavior, indicating growing cognitive control and the ability to shift attention appropriately.

Describe Baillargeon’s drawbridge experiment. What does this study tell us about the development of object permanence?

This experiment tested infants' understanding of object permanence by showing a drawbridge that would swing over a box, either with or without the box being in the way. Infants saw the drawbridge either stop when it reached the hidden box (a possible event) or pass through the box as if it were not there (an impossible event). Infants looked longer at the impossible event, suggesting that they expected the box to block the drawbridge. This study indicates that even young infants possess some understanding of object permanence and can expect objects to persist in space, challenging Piaget’s notion that object permanence only fully develops around 8 to 12 months.

What is statistical learning? Describe an experiment that suggests infants are capable of recognizing statistical structure. What does the capacity for engaging in statistical learning mean for cognitive development?

Statistical learning is the ability to recognize patterns and regularities in the environment. In Kirkham et al. (2002), 2, 5, and 8-month-olds were habituated to a sequence where certain shapes were followed by specific other shapes (e.g., squares were followed by crosses, circles by squares), but both crosses and squares were followed by any shape. All groups dishabituated to a random novel sequence but remained habituated to a novel sequence that preserved the transitional properties of the original sequence. This indicates that even very young infants can recognize statistical regularities. The ability to engage in statistical learning supports cognitive development by enabling infants to make sense of the world by detecting patterns, which is crucial for language acquisition and other cognitive skills.

Describe the habituation method. What is done? Why is it done? What are two different ways a researcher can interpret findings using this method?

The habituation method involves repeatedly exposing infants to a stimulus until their looking time decreases, indicating they have lost interest. It is used to test whether infants can discriminate between stimuli or recognize something as familiar. If looking time increases when a new stimulus is introduced (dishabituation), it suggests the infant perceives it as different. Researchers can interpret habituation in two ways: as boredom, meaning the infant has stopped paying attention due to overexposure, or as recognition, indicating the infant has formed a mental representation of the stimulus and no longer finds it novel.

True or False: At birth, infants’ categorization abilities are based only on direct, observable perceptual features of objects. Describe an experiment that supports your answer.  If you said true, make sure your experiment shows a developmental difference from perceptual to conceptual features. If you say false, make sure the experiment you describe supports the idea that this is available at birth. 

False. Infants’ categorization abilities are not based solely on direct, observable perceptual features of objects at birth; they can also categorize based on more abstract or conceptual features. An experiment supporting this is Quinn et al. (2001), which showed that newborns could distinguish between different categories, such as triangles and squares, based on perceptual features. However, as they develop, infants begin to categorize based on more abstract features, such as the function of objects. In this experiment, 3-4-month-olds could generalize objects in the same category based on perceptual and conceptual features, indicating a shift from purely perceptual categorization to more conceptual categorization over time. This suggests that categorization evolves from being based on observable features to incorporating more abstract properties as infants grow.

Rovee-Collier describes the trains task to study children’s memory. What is it? What links it to the mobile task?

The trains task, as described by Rovee-Collier, is a procedure used to study infants' memory by associating their behavior with the movement of a toy train. In this task, infants' leg movements were tied to the motion of a toy train, similar to how the mobile task linked infants' kicking behavior to the movement of a mobile. The link between the two tasks is that both involve operant conditioning, where infants learn to associate their actions (like kicking or leg movement) with a change in the environment (train moving or mobile moving). This allows researchers to assess how well infants can remember the association over time. Both tasks help measure memory retention by observing how long infants can remember and produce the action that triggers the event.

What is the difference between object permanence and object individualization? Describe Xu and Carey’s experiment on individualization, which suggests this ability emerges after certain object permanence abilities. 

Object permanence refers to the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not directly visible, while object individualization is the ability to recognize that distinct objects exist as separate entities, each with its own properties and identity.

In Xu and Carey’s (1996) experiment on object individualization, they presented infants with a situation where a toy was hidden behind a screen and then two objects were revealed instead of one. They found that infants could track the number of objects and distinguish between individual objects only when they had already demonstrated a basic understanding of object permanence. The experiment showed that object individualization, which involves recognizing two objects as separate entities, emerges after the infant has developed the concept that objects continue to exist when out of sight (object permanence). This suggests that object permanence is a prerequisite for object individualization.

Define assimilation and accommodation.  Provide examples of each.  How does Piaget characterize them as mechanisms of cognitive development? 

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development involves a dynamic process of assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration. When a child encounters an event they cannot currently explain, they will first assimilate it, applying existing knowledge or representations to make sense of the new experience, such as biting an object the way they’ve learned to bite others. If the assimilation doesn’t fully work, the child will accommodate by adjusting their approach, for example, by holding the object differently or using a new technique. This process of assimilation and accommodation leads to a new state of equilibrium, where the child’s cognitive structures are better suited to understand and interact with their environment. Through this continuous balancing, children develop increasingly complex and accurate representations of the world around them.

Define the following terms: Direct Launching, Delayed Launching, No Contact Launching.  Describe an experiment that distinguishes between a perceptual-based and a causal-based representation of launching events. Is there a developmental trend in interpreting these displays? 

Direct Launching occurs when one object directly causes another to move, like a ball hitting a block. Delayed Launching happens when an object moves after a delay, often due to indirect contact, while No Contact Launching involves an object seemingly moving without direct contact. An experiment by Leslie & Keeble (1987) tested infants by showing them a ball rolling toward a block, either hitting it, passing above it, or causing no contact. The study distinguished between perceptual-based representations (relying on sensory cues like proximity) and causal-based representations (understanding the ball’s movement could cause the block to move). Developmentally, younger infants focus more on perceptual cues, while older infants show a more sophisticated understanding of causal relationships.