Infants' use of contextual cues in the generalization of effective actions from imitation.
We examined infants' ability to generalize effective actions in an imitation task. In Experiment 1, 15-month-olds imitated effective and ineffective actions on two similarly designed toys. They were then shown a third toy of the same design with both actions available. Children reliably touched and manipulated the effective action handle first and more persistently. In Experiment 2, however, 15-month-olds did not generalize the efficacy of the action when the test toy was different from the two demonstration toys. Experiment 3 replicated the findings of Experiment 2 but also showed that infants generalized efficacy when the demonstration toys differed from one another as well as from the test toy. Our findings are consistent with a computational model that uses certain rational pedagogical assumptions. Overall, the results suggest that 15-month-olds are sensitive to the sampling information they observe and use this information to guide whether to generalize efficacy information they learn from imitation.
Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.
Dahe Jessica
DJ
Yang
Emily W
EW
Bushnell
David W
DW
Buchanan
David M
DM
Sobel
D003210:Concept Formation; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011597:Psychomotor Performance
Causal reasoning; Imitation; Infancy; Rational categorization