Rich interpretation vs. deflationary accounts in cognitive development: the case of means-end skills in 7-month-old infants.
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.
Munakata
Yuko
Y
Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 S. Race Street, Denver, CO 80208, USA. munakata@kore.psy.du.edu
Bauer
David
D
Stackhouse
Tracy
T
Landgraf
Laura
L
Huddleston
Jennifer
J
D000367:Age Factors; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009048:Motor Skills; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011597:Psychomotor Performance