Infants' attention to an adult's demonstration of object functions: evidence for a comparator process

Abstract

The present study was motivated by a concern with the cognitive processes that infants bring to bear on stimulation offered by adults. As previous studies have highlighted the importance of parental stimulation with objects, this study consisted of an experimental investigation of this context of stimulation. It was hypothesized that adults' actions that demonstrate the functions of toys activate a comparator process in 9-month-old infants. It was predicted that prior exposure to the toy in a stationary state would increase attention to a demonstrative action, as the comparator process requires time over and above the local processing of an event. This prediction was borne out: 9-month-olds infants' attention to the demonstration of the functions of a toy was augmented by immediate prior exposure to the toy in a stationary state. By contrast, attention to other actions which did not demonstrate specific functions was either significantly reduced by prior exposure to the toy, or unaffected. Moreover, 16-montholds who are better able to perform a broad range of actions with objects, did not show increased attention to a demonstration of functions when prior exposure to the toy was provided.

It Clicks When It Is Rolled and It Squeaks When It Is Squeezed: What 10‐Month‐Old Infants Learn About Object Function

“…The fact that this brain region does appear to be specialized for processing human action in older children and adults does point to the importance of the perception of human agents more generally. Infants may be particularly attentive to actions on objects by agents (e.g., see Demetre & Vietze, 1998); therefore attention to agents may play an important role in what infants learn about function. The role of agency in what and how infants learn about function needs further inquiry, but the possibility that agency plays an important role is consistent with the notion that infants are sensitive to intentional behavior (Baldwin, Baird, Saylor, & Clark, 2001; Olineck & Poulin‐Dubois, 2005) and that intentional behavior may be informative about the appearances and uses of objects (e.g., Gelman & Bloom, 2000).…”