TY - JOUR
T1 - Young infants' reasoning about hidden objects
T2 - Evidence from violation-of-expectation tasks with test trials only
AU - Wang, Su Hua
AU - Baillargeon, Renée
AU - Brueckner, Laura
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation dissertation fellowship to the first author and an NICHD grant (HD-21104) to the second author. We thank Cindy Fisher for helpful suggestions; the staff of the University of Illinois Infant Cognition Laboratory for their help with the data collection; and the parents and infants who generously participated in the research.
PY - 2004/10
Y1 - 2004/10
N2 - The present research examined alternative accounts of prior violation-of-expectation (VOE) reports that young infants can represent and reason about hidden objects. According to these accounts, young infants' apparent success in these VOE tasks reflects only novelty and familiarity preferences induced by the habituation or familiarization trials in the tasks. In two experiments, 4-month-old infants were tested in VOE tasks with test trials only. The infants still gave evidence that they could represent and reason about hidden objects: they were surprised, as indicated by greater attention, when a wide object became fully hidden behind a narrow occluder (Experiment 1) or inside a narrow container (Experiment 2). These and control results demonstrate that young infants can succeed at VOE tasks involving hidden objects even when given no habituation or familiarization trials. The present research thus provides additional support for the conclusion that young infants possess expectations about hidden objects. Methodological issues concerning the use of habituation or familiarization trials in VOE tasks are also discussed.
AB - The present research examined alternative accounts of prior violation-of-expectation (VOE) reports that young infants can represent and reason about hidden objects. According to these accounts, young infants' apparent success in these VOE tasks reflects only novelty and familiarity preferences induced by the habituation or familiarization trials in the tasks. In two experiments, 4-month-old infants were tested in VOE tasks with test trials only. The infants still gave evidence that they could represent and reason about hidden objects: they were surprised, as indicated by greater attention, when a wide object became fully hidden behind a narrow occluder (Experiment 1) or inside a narrow container (Experiment 2). These and control results demonstrate that young infants can succeed at VOE tasks involving hidden objects even when given no habituation or familiarization trials. The present research thus provides additional support for the conclusion that young infants possess expectations about hidden objects. Methodological issues concerning the use of habituation or familiarization trials in VOE tasks are also discussed.
KW - Infants' physical reasoning
KW - Novelty and familiarity preferences
KW - Violation-of-expectation findings
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cognition.2003.09.012
DO - 10.1016/j.cognition.2003.09.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 15178376
AN - SCOPUS:4444291429
SN - 0010-0277
VL - 93
SP - 167
EP - 198
JO - Cognition
JF - Cognition
IS - 3
ER -