Poster #24 - A Lion or a Shoe: 17-month-olds Observe vs. Act in an Object Individuation Task

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Cognitive Processes

Integrative Statement

Object individuation, the ability to distinguish an object that is currently perceived from one that was previously perceived, is an important cognitive ability used in everyday life. In the current study, we assessed the influence of self-action on infants’ ability to individuate objects. Using a manual search task, we tested eighteen 17- to 18-month-old infants’ ability to individuate objects. Infants were assigned to one of two conditions in which they either observed as an experimenter hid an object in a covered bucket or they hid the object themselves (between-subjects variable). Once the object was hidden via a small slit in the fabric lid of the bucket, it was surreptitiously swapped through a trap door in the back of the bucket for either the same object or a different object (within-subjects variable; condition alternated across four trials). The infant was then asked to retrieve the object from the bucket and hand it to the experimenter. Next, the infant was given the opportunity to continue to search in the bucket. The rationale was that if infants perceived a single object hidden in and then retrieved from the bucket, there would be no reason to continue searching inside the bucket. However, if infants perceived the retrieved object as a distinct object from the one hidden, they would continue searching in the bucket for the yet-to-be-retrieved object. “Search” was operationally defined as the time during which infants reached into the bucket with their whole hand (wrist to fingertips) or when infants peered into the bucket through the slit in the lid. Mean search time for the same and different trials was calculated for each infant. Scores were analyzed using a 2 (observed or self-hidden) x 2 (same objects or different objects) mixed model ANOVA. The interaction was significant, F(1, 16) = 9.21, p = .01, ɳp2 = 0.37. Infants who passively watched an experimenter hide the object had similar search times regardless of whether the same or a different object was retrieved, F(1, 8) = 0.58, p = .48, ɳp2 = 0.07. However, infants who hid the objects themselves searched longer when the different object was retrieved relative to when the same object was retrieved, F(1, 8) = 9.19, p = .02, ɳp2 = 0.54. These results indicate that infants successfully individuated only when they were able to hide the object themselves. This outcome provides evidence that, similar to other types of object processing, object individuation is enhanced when infants are given the ability to act on objects.

Authors

• Savanna Jellison, North Dakota State University
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca J, Woods, North Dakota State University
  Non-Presenting Author