Conceptual Development

Conceptual Development

PSYC 3500

Intuitive Theories of Human Knowledge

Study by Wang & Feigenson (2019)

  • Conducted across five studies:

    1. US Adults

    2. Indian Adults (Same patterns observed)

    3. US Children (Same patterns observed)

    4. US Adults with questions regarding animals

    5. US Scientists

Learning Objectives (LO)

## What do kids understand about the world around them?

Lecture Outline

  • Objects

  • Categories

  • Numbers

  • Space

- Deep Dive: Theory of Mind

Objects

How do infants identify objects?

  • Infants parse continuous visual streams into distinct objects.

  • Two main cues:

    • Contrast: Finding the contour of an object

    • Motion: A superior cue, as explored in the following studies.

Motion Identifies Objects

  • Kellman & Spelke (1983); Jusczyk et al. (1999): Infants, including newborns, use synchronized motion to infer object continuity.

    • Experiment: Infants were habituated to a moving display (e.g., configurations A/D/E/F) and presented with:

    • Joined Option: A continuous option similar to B

    • Disjointed Option: A discontinuous option similar to C

    • Measured the infants' looking time to assess recognition and expectations.

Expectations of Objects

  • Infants develop expectations about object permanence and gravity:

    • Objects do not disappear.

    • Habituation Example: Objects perceived through various scenarios.

    • Demonstrates understanding of solidity, gravity, and support.

    • Examples include:

      • (a) Habituation

      • (b) Placing the box

      • (c) Possible event

      • (d) Impossible event

Gravity Expectations

  1. No support, No contact - object should fall.

  2. No support, YES contact - object should fall (limited).

  3. YES support with contact - object should not fall.

    • (Ref: Baillargeon, Needham, & DeVos, 1992; Needham & Baillargeon, 1993)

3D Expectations

  • Do infants expect objects to be 3D?

    • Study (Soska et al., 2010): Habituated 4.5-7.5 month olds to one angle of an object, testing their interest later.

    • Infants capable of sitting without support noticed the 'incomplete' objects more than complete ones.