PSYC 352 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Teddy Bear, Order Type, Almost Surely
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7 Sep 2020
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INFANT COGNITION
• Violation-of-expectation method: measure infants' responses (mostly looking time) to some
event that would be unexpected from an adult perspective
o Study on development of infants’ understanding of objects
▪ 2.5 months watched toy mouse disappear behind screen on right side of display
and then reappeared on left side without appearing in the gap in the middle
▪ Infants looked longer at magically appeared mouse than “expected” event of
mouse travelling through gap
• Core knowledge hypothesis: infants are born with a small set of distinct systems of knowledge
that "carve nature at its joints", each representing different
"domains of reasoning"
o These are the understandings upon which all other understandings of the world are built
• Object representation
o Object constancy: knowing object remains same despite changes in how it’s viewed
▪ Size constancy experiment -> After becoming used to looking at small cube at
different distances (habituation to changes in retinal image) infants presented
with second larger but more distance cube (same retinal image for both cubes)
• If infants pay more attention to larger than smaller cube, conclude
they’re distinguishing cubes on bases on their actual, not retinal size
o Object cohesion and continuity: fact that individual objects seen as cohesive wholes
with distinctive boundaries
▪ Gestalt concept of continuation -> Important acquisition of visual perception
identifying objects that appear connected visually as independent objects
• A (habituation), B & C (test)
• Widely used stimuli has been rectangle with two broken rods
• B possible but unexpected because adults expect rod to be a continuous
object, 4 months infer same, but only if both rods exhibit continuous
same-speed movement
• See control condition (top row) did seem to have evidence for
continuity, because no surprise at broken object, remaining habituated
▪ Another interesting of infants that objects require support -> Object can’t
remain suspended in midair or it would fall
• Gloved hand push box that sat atop platform from left to right
• In possible event, box stopped while firmly situated on platform
• In impossible event, box pushed until only 15% of it rested on platform
• Although 3 month olds not surprised by impossible event, by 4.5 months
infants begin to understand the amount of contact between box and
platform important
▪ Three ways of assessing infant’s understanding of the role of height in object
continuity -> Depending on how infants tested, display
understanding of role of height at different ages
• Occlusion event -> Tall object placed behind and
occluded by shorter object (impossible)
o 4.5 months act surprised when happens
• Containment event -> Taller object placed within
shorter container
o Infants don’t show surprise until 7.5 months
• Covering event -> Shorter object covers taller
o Don’t show surprise until 12 months
▪ Principle of persistence: objects not only exist continuously and remain
cohesive, also retain their individual properties