Abstract
This research tests whether analogical learning is present before language comprehension. Three-month-old infants were habituated to a series of analogous pairs, instantiating either the same relation (e.g., AA, BB, etc.) or the different relation (e.g., AB, CD, etc.), and then tested with further exemplars of the relations. If they can distinguish the familiar relation from the novel relation, even with new objects, this is evidence for analogical abstraction across the study pairs. In Experiment 1, we did not find evidence of analogical abstraction when 3-month-olds were habituated to six pairs instantiating the relation. However, in Experiment 2, infants showed evidence of analogical abstraction after habituation to two alternating pairs (e.g., AA, BB, AA, BB…). Further, as with older groups, rendering individual objects salient disrupted learning the relation. These results demonstrate that 3-month-old infants are capable of comparison and abstraction of the same/different relation. Our findings also place limits on the conditions under which these processes are likely to occur. We discuss implications for theories of relational learning.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 74-86 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Cognition |
| Volume | 176 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2018 |
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Keywords
- Cognitive development
- Infants
- Relational processing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Language and Linguistics
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Linguistics and Language
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Cite this
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Comparison within pairs promotes analogical abstraction in three-month-olds. / Anderson, Erin M.; Chang, Yin Juei; Hespos, Susan J; Gentner, Dedre.
In: Cognition, Vol. 176, 01.07.2018, p. 74-86.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison within pairs promotes analogical abstraction in three-month-olds
AU - Anderson, Erin M.
AU - Chang, Yin Juei
AU - Hespos, Susan J
AU - Gentner, Dedre
PY - 2018/7/1
Y1 - 2018/7/1
N2 - This research tests whether analogical learning is present before language comprehension. Three-month-old infants were habituated to a series of analogous pairs, instantiating either the same relation (e.g., AA, BB, etc.) or the different relation (e.g., AB, CD, etc.), and then tested with further exemplars of the relations. If they can distinguish the familiar relation from the novel relation, even with new objects, this is evidence for analogical abstraction across the study pairs. In Experiment 1, we did not find evidence of analogical abstraction when 3-month-olds were habituated to six pairs instantiating the relation. However, in Experiment 2, infants showed evidence of analogical abstraction after habituation to two alternating pairs (e.g., AA, BB, AA, BB…). Further, as with older groups, rendering individual objects salient disrupted learning the relation. These results demonstrate that 3-month-old infants are capable of comparison and abstraction of the same/different relation. Our findings also place limits on the conditions under which these processes are likely to occur. We discuss implications for theories of relational learning.
AB - This research tests whether analogical learning is present before language comprehension. Three-month-old infants were habituated to a series of analogous pairs, instantiating either the same relation (e.g., AA, BB, etc.) or the different relation (e.g., AB, CD, etc.), and then tested with further exemplars of the relations. If they can distinguish the familiar relation from the novel relation, even with new objects, this is evidence for analogical abstraction across the study pairs. In Experiment 1, we did not find evidence of analogical abstraction when 3-month-olds were habituated to six pairs instantiating the relation. However, in Experiment 2, infants showed evidence of analogical abstraction after habituation to two alternating pairs (e.g., AA, BB, AA, BB…). Further, as with older groups, rendering individual objects salient disrupted learning the relation. These results demonstrate that 3-month-old infants are capable of comparison and abstraction of the same/different relation. Our findings also place limits on the conditions under which these processes are likely to occur. We discuss implications for theories of relational learning.
KW - Cognitive development
KW - Infants
KW - Relational processing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053848442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85053848442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.03.008
DO - 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.03.008
M3 - Article
VL - 176
SP - 74
EP - 86
JO - Cognition
JF - Cognition
SN - 0010-0277
ER -