Infant perceptual and conceptual categorization: the roles of static and dynamic stimulus attributes.

Full Abstract

Infants' categorization of animals and vehicles based on static vs. dynamic attributes of stimuli was investigated in five experiments (N=158) using a categorization habituation-of-looking paradigm. In Experiment 1, 6-month-olds categorized static color images of animals and vehicles, and in Experiment 2, 6-month-olds categorized dynamic point-light displays showing only motions of the same animals and vehicles. In Experiments 3, 4, and 5, 6- and 9-month-olds were tested in an habituation-transfer paradigm:
half of the infants at each age were habituated to static images and tested with dynamic point-light displays, and the other half were habituated to dynamic point-light displays and tested with static images. Six-month-olds did not transfer. Only 9-month-olds who were habituated to dynamic displays showed evidence of category transfer to static images. Together the findings show that 6-month-olds categorize animals and vehicles based on static and dynamic information, and 9-month-olds can transfer dynamic category information to static images. Transfer, static vs. dynamic information, and age effects in infant categorization are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Arterberry, Martha E (ME); Bornstein, Marc H (MH);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA 17325, USA. arterber(-atsign-)gettysburg.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Cognition (Cognition), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Nov; vol 86 (issue 1) : pp 1-24

Dates: Created 2002/09/04; Completed 2002/12/04; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12208649, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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