Abstract Rule Learning for Visual Sequences in 8- and 11-Month-Olds.
The experiments reported here investigated the development of a fundamental component of cognition: to recognize and generalize abstract relations. Infants were presented with simple rule-governed patterned sequences of visual shapes (ABB, AAB, and ABA) that could be discriminated from differences in the position of the repeated element (late, early, or nonadjacent, respectively). Eight-month-olds were found to distinguish patterns on the basis of the repetition, but appeared insensitive to its position in the sequence; 11-month-olds distinguished patterns over the position of the repetition, but appeared insensitive to the nonadjacent repetition. These results suggest that abstract pattern detection may develop incrementally in a process of constructing complex relations from more primitive components.
Johnson
Scott P
SP
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
Fernandas
Keith J
KJ
Frank
Michael C
MC
Kirkham
Natasha
N
Marcus
Gary
G
Rabagliati
Hugh
H
Slemmer
Jonathan A
JA