Prelinguistic Relational Concepts: Investigating Analogical Processing in Infants

Alissa L. Ferry; Susan J. Hespos; Dedre Gentner

doi:10.1111/cdev.12381

Prelinguistic Relational Concepts: Investigating Analogical Processing in Infants

Alissa L. Ferry^*, Susan J. Hespos, Dedre Gentner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

83 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1386-1405
Number of pages	20
Journal	Child development
Volume	86
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12381
State	Published - Sep 1 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health

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10.1111/cdev.12381

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abstract = "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.",

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Prelinguistic Relational Concepts: Investigating Analogical Processing in Infants

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