Can a self-propelled box have a goal? Psychological reasoning in 5-month-old infants.
Some researchers have suggested that infants' ability to reason about goals develops as a result of their experiences with human agents and is then gradually extended to other agents. Other researchers have proposed that goal attribution is rooted in a specialized system of reasoning that is activated whenever infants encounter entities with appropriate features (e.g., self-propulsion). The first view predicts that young infants should attribute goals to human but not other agents; the second view predicts that young infants should attribute goals to both human and nonhuman agents. The present research revealed that 5-month-old infants (the youngest found thus far to attribute goals to human agents) also attribute goals to nonhuman agents. In two experiments, infants interpreted the actions of a self-propelled box as goal-directed. These results provide support for the view that from an early age, infants attribute goals to any entity they identify as an agent.
Luo
Yuyan
Y
Psychology Department, University of Illinois, Champaign, 61820, USA. yluo@cyrus.psych.uiuc.edu
Baillargeon
Renée
R
D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D002666:Psychology, Child / Q000379:methods; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors