Ratio abstraction by 6-month-old infants.
Human infants appear to be capable of the rudimentary mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, and ordering. To determine whether infants are capable of extracting ratios, we presented 6-month-old infants with multiple examples of a single ratio. After repeated presentations of this ratio, the infants were presented with new examples of a new ratio, as well as new examples of the previously habituated ratio. Infants were able to successfully discriminate two ratios that differed by a factor of 2, but failed to detect the difference between two numerical ratios that differed by a factor of 1.5. We conclude that infants can extract a common ratio across test scenes and use this information while examining new displays. The results support an approximate magnitude-estimation system, which has also been found in animals and human adults.
McCrink
Koleen
K
Yale University, USA. mccrink@wjh.harvard.edu
Wynn
Karen
K
D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology