Thirteen-month-olds rely on shared labels and shape similarity for inductive inferences.
This study examined the influence of shape similarity and labels on 13-month-olds' inductive inferences. In 3 experiments, 123 infants were presented with novel target objects with or without a nonvisible property, followed by test objects that varied in shape similarity. When objects were not labeled, infants generalized the nonvisible property to high-similarity objects (Experiment 1). When objects were labeled with the same noun, infants generalized the nonvisible property to high- and low-similarity objects (Experiment 2). Finally, when objects were labeled with different nouns, infants generalized the nonvisible property to high-similarity objects (Experiment 3). Thus, infants who are beginning to acquire productive language rely on shared shape similarity and shared names to guide their inductive inferences.
Graham
Susan A
SA
Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada. susan.graham@ucalgary.ca
Kilbreath
Cari S
CS
Welder
Andrea N
AN
D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D014796:Visual Perception