ERIC Number: EJ1074186
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Prelinguistic Relational Concepts: Investigating Analogical Processing in Infants
Ferry, Alissa L.; Hespos, Susan J.; Gentner, Dedre
Child Development, v86 n5 p1386-1405 Sep-Oct 2015
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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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF); Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: BCS-1423917; 0541957; N00014-92-J-1098
Author Affiliations: N/A