U-SHAPED DEVELOPMENT IN INFANT COGNITION AND PERCEPTION

婴儿认知和感知的 U 形发展

• 批准号: 7381930
• 负责人: Cara Helen Cashon
• 金额: $ 6.02万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-05-01 至 2007-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7381930
• 关键词: SHAPED; DEVELOPMENT; INFANT; COGNITION; PERCEPTION

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Although development is traditionally thought to follow an increasing, monotonic pattern in which infants or children improve with age, closer examination indicates that infants may regress temporarily to a lower level, subsequent to achieving a higher level of performance (Cashon & Cohen, 2003, 2004; Werker, Fennell, Corcoran, & Stager, 2002). In some cases this regression may be permanent (Pascalis, de Haan, & Nelson, 2002). Such regression patterns certainly negate the traditional notion that development only entails steady improvement. Accordingly, since these regressions are not predicted by theories, when they do appear they are usually unexpected and not understood. Given the paucity of information in this area and the critical need for elucidating this process and its consequences for predicting developmental outcomes, our overall GOAL for the proposed research is to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in U-shaped patterns of development found during infancy. More specifically, we will determine whether such patterns reflect a domain-general, adaptive learning process that allows the infant to become more tailored to his/her environment or whether they reflect changes that are artifacts of the experimental task. When infants display a U-shaped pattern of development, it is often viewed as a result of ¿reorganization¿ (Werker & Tees, 1984). We recently argued (Cashon & Cohen, 2003; 2004) that such regressions are necessary as infants adapt to their environment. Infants must incorporate important information en route to becoming ¿experts¿ in the world around them. As a result of the reorganization process, however, infants may temporarily regress to a lower level. Two specific aims will address the GOAL of the proposed research, which is to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved in U-shaped patterns of development during infancy. Both aims will be met by testing infants in a visual habituation task, whereby infants¿ looking times are measured while they view a series of faces and moving objects. Aim 1 will build upon previous research indicating that infants¿ face processing follows a U-shaped pattern. Aim 2 will empirically test the prediction that U-shaped development occurs prior to the development of an adaptive constraint. Aim 2 will be achieved by investigating infants¿ perception of form-function correlations. Aim 1 investigates the bases for the U-shaped pattern of development in infants¿ processing of faces. In a previous set of studies, we found that between 3 and 7 months of age, infants¿ processing of faces produces a U-shaped pattern with a drop in performance occurring at approximately 6 months of age (Cashon & Cohen, 2004). We argue this regression is a necessary, but temporary change resulting from overload as infants try to incorporate important information about faces. This notion is consistent with research in other areas of infant cognition and perception showing that when integrating new information infants regress to a lower level of processing (Cohen, Chaput, & Cashon, 2002). Alternatively, the apparent U-shape could be the result of 6-month-olds shifting their attention to focus exclusively on the eyes and eyebrows of a face. Aim 1 will investigate these two alternate hypotheses. It is predicted that 6 month olds will show evidence of overload and not of simply processing the eyes and eyebrows of a face. Aim 2 investigates the bases for U-shaped pattern of development in infants¿ processing of form-function correlations. Predictions of when U-shaped development will occur are lacking. We argue that U-shaped patterns occur just prior to perceptual of cognitive pruning. Accordingly, we would expect infants to show a U-shaped developmental pattern in their processing of form-function correlations. Previous research by Madole and Cohen (1995) indicates that infants develop an adaptive constraint on their processing these correlations between 14 and 18 months of age. Based on our hypothesis, we predict that a drop in performance occurs between these two ages. More specifically, Madole and Cohen reported finding that 14-month-olds are sensitive to the correlation between the appearance (form) of a feature of an object and its function (within-feature form-function correlation) as well as the form of one feature and the function of another (between-feature form-function correlation). Importantly, they also reported that 18-month-olds are sensitive only to the within-feature form-function correlation. Our specific prediction is that infants at approximately 16 months will regress and show no sensitivity to either correlation.

本子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的众多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能已经从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是中心的，不一定是研究者的机构。虽然传统上认为发展遵循一个不断增长的单调模式，即婴儿或儿童随着年龄的增长而提高，但更仔细的研究表明，婴儿在达到更高水平的表现之后，可能会暂时倒退到较低的水平（Cashon & Cohen， 2003年，2004年；Werker, Fennell, Corcoran, & Stager， 2002年）。在某些情况下，这种回归可能是永久性的（Pascalis, de Haan, & Nelson, 2002）。这种倒退模式肯定否定了发展只需要稳步改进的传统观念。因此，由于这些回归不是由理论预测的，当它们确实出现时，它们通常是出乎意料的，也不被理解。鉴于这一领域的信息匮乏，以及阐明这一过程及其对预测发育结果的影响的迫切需要，我们提出的研究的总体目标是调查婴儿期发现的u型发育模式的潜在机制。更具体地说，我们将确定这些模式是否反映了一个领域一般的、适应性的学习过程，使婴儿能够更适应他/她的环境，或者它们是否反映了实验任务的人为变化。当婴儿表现出u型发展模式时，它通常被视为“重组”的结果（Werker & Tees, 1984）。我们最近提出（Cashon & Cohen, 2003; 2004），这种回归在婴儿适应环境时是必要的。婴儿在成为他们周围世界的“专家”的过程中必须吸收重要的信息。然而，作为重组过程的结果，婴儿可能会暂时倒退到较低的水平。两个具体的目的将解决提出的研究目标，即阐明婴儿期u型发展模式的潜在机制。这两个目标都将通过在视觉习惯任务中测试婴儿来实现，即在婴儿观看一系列面孔和移动物体时测量他们的观看时间。目标1将以先前的研究为基础，表明婴儿对面部的处理遵循u型模式。目标2将实证检验u型发展发生在适应性约束发展之前的预测。目标2将通过调查婴儿对形式-功能相关性的感知来实现。目的1：探讨婴儿面孔加工的u型发展模式的基础。在之前的一组研究中，我们发现，在3到7个月大的婴儿对面孔的处理会产生一个u形模式，在大约6个月大的时候表现会下降（Cashon & Cohen, 2004）。我们认为这种回归是必要的，但暂时的变化是由于婴儿试图吸收有关面部的重要信息时过载造成的。这一观点与婴儿认知和感知的其他领域的研究一致，这些研究表明，当婴儿整合新信息时，他们会退回到较低的处理水平（Cohen, Chaput, & Cashon, 2002）。另外，这种明显的u型可能是6个月大的婴儿将注意力转移到只关注眼睛和眉毛的结果。目的1将调查这两个交替的假设。据预测，6个月大的婴儿会表现出超负荷的迹象，而不仅仅是处理面部的眼睛和眉毛。目的2研究婴儿u型发展模式的基础：形式-功能关联的处理。目前还缺乏对u型发展何时出现的预测。我们认为u形模式发生在认知修剪的感知之前。因此，我们预计婴儿在处理形式-功能相关性方面表现出u型的发展模式。Madole和Cohen（1995）先前的研究表明，婴儿在14到18个月之间对这些相关性的处理产生了适应性约束。根据我们的假设，我们预测在这两个年龄段之间表现会下降。更具体地说，Madole和Cohen报告发现，14个月大的婴儿对物体特征的外观（形式）与其功能之间的相关性（特征内形式-功能相关性）以及一个特征的形式与另一个特征的功能之间的相关性（特征之间形式-功能相关性）很敏感。重要的是，他们还报告说，18个月大的婴儿只对特征内部形式-功能相关性敏感。我们的具体预测是，大约16个月大的婴儿会出现倒退，对任何一种相关性都不敏感。