Rich interpretation vs. deflationary accounts in cognitive development: the case of means-end skills in 7-month-old infants.

Full Abstract

Seven-month-old infants appear to learn means-end skills, such as pushing a button to retrieve a distant toy (Psychological Review 104 (1997) 686). The present studies tested whether such apparent means-end behaviors are genuine, or simply the repetition of trained behaviors under conditions of greatest arousal, as suggested by a dynamic systems reinterpretation. When infants were trained to repeat behaviors that did not serve as means to retrieving toys (pushing a button to light a set of distant lights), their button-pushing differed significantly from infants for whom button-pushing served as a means for retrieving toys. Further, infants demonstrated means-end skills with behaviors that they had not been trained to repeat. Implications for early means-end abilities and for debates surrounding the interpretation of infant behavior are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Munakata, Yuko (Y); Bauer, David (D); Stackhouse, Tracy (T); Landgraf, Laura (L); Huddleston, Jennifer (J);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 S. Race Street, Denver, CO 80208, USA. munakata@kore.psy.du.edu

Grants: 1R29 HD37163-01 (Agency:United States NICHD)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

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

Reference: 2002-Apr; vol 83 (issue 3) : pp B43-53

Dates: Created 2002/04/05; Completed 2002/06/14; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 11934406, 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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