Sequence Induction in Infancy: A systematic approach

描述（由申请人提供）：13个实验研究顺序输入模式学习能力的早期发展。这些证据似乎很可能为我们了解婴儿如何识别具体和抽象模式（认知发展的一个基本方面）提供实质性的贡献。提出的实验分为三个广泛的研究。在第一项研究中，我们将研究可能影响婴儿顺序学习的“辅助”因素。我们强调任何多元素组或字符串中元素之间的两种关系的重要性：具体实例之间的项目关系（例如，统计学习）和代数占位符之间的变量关系（例如，抽象模式或规则学习）。我们认为，对这些类型的学习进行任何程序化系列实验的第一步，必须包括对可能制约性能的处理限制的理解。在第二项研究中，我们将调查婴儿可能学习的不同类型的模式，使用过去和试点数据作为我们的理论指导。在最后的研究中，我们将探讨一个有趣的可能性，即婴儿可能在任何一组输入中学习不止一种模式，这是一个在认知发展文献中很少受到实证关注的经典问题。本建议的短期目标是阐明在检测抽象视觉和听觉结构的能力的基本发展机制。长期目标是阐明更大的问题，即人类如何获得和构建知识，感知技能如何影响知识获取和结构，以及如何最好地描述早期发展。在未来，这样的理解可能有助于制定诊断和治疗一些发育障碍。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Thirteen experiments investigate the early development of the ability to learn patterns in sequential input. Such evidence would seem likely to provide a substantial contribution to our knowledge of how infants identify both concrete and abstract patterns, a fundamental aspect of cognitive development. The proposed experiments are organized into three broad studies. In the first study, we will examine "ancillary" factors that may influence sequence learning in infancy. We emphasize the importance of two kinds of relations between elements in any multi-element group or string: itemwise relations, between specific instances (e.g., statistical learning), and variablewise relations, between algebraic placeholders (e.g., abstract pattern or rule learning). We argue that a first step toward any programmatic series of experiments on these kinds of learning-must involve an understanding of processing limitations that may constrain performance. In the second study, we will investigate the different kinds of patterns infants may be able to learn, using past and pilot data as a guide for our theorizing. In the final study, we will explore the intriguing possibility that infants may learn more than one pattern in any single set of inputs, a classic question that has received little empirical attention in the literature on cognitive development. The short-term objectives of the present proposal are to elucidate fundamental developmental mechanisms in the ability to detect abstract visual and auditory structure. The long-term goals are to shed light on the larger question of how knowledge is acquired and structured in the human, how perceptual skills impact knowledge acquisition and structure, and how to best characterize early development. In the future, such understanding may aid in the formulation of diagnostics and treatments for some developmental disorders.