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Infants' Use of Language to Update Mental Representations

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Infants' Use of Language to Update Mental Representations PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Research Article Thinking of Things Unseen Infants’ Use of Language to Update Mental Representations Patricia A. Ganea,1 Kristin Shutts,2 Elizabeth S. Spelke,2 and Judy S. DeLoache3 1Boston University, 2Harvard University, and 3University of Virginia ABSTRACT—One of the most distinctive characteristics of calls; Hauser, 1996), most cases of updating in humans are made humans is the capacity to learn from what other people tell possible by language. Language allows people to acquire new them. Often new information is provided about an entity information about any entity to which they can refer, and to that is not present, requiring incorporation of that infor- update their knowledge of that entity in the absence of any direct mation into one’s mental representation of the absent ob- contact with it. In the research reported here, we investigated ject. Here we present evidence regarding the emergence of the emergence of this ability in very young children. this vital ability. Nineteen- and 22-month-old infants first Infants begin to talk about absent objects in the second half of learned a name for a toy and later were told that the toy their 2nd year (Lewis, 1936; Sachs, 1983; Scollon, 1979; Shimpi had undergone a change in state (it had become wet) while & Huttenlocher, 2004; Veneziano & Sinclair, 1995), but they out of view. The 22-month-olds (but not the 19-month-olds) understand someone else’s reference to an absent object sub- subsequently identified the toy solely on the basis of the stantially earlier. Naturalistic observations in the home have property that they were told about but had never seen. documented comprehension of references to absent familiar Thus, before the end of their 2nd year, infants can use objects at ages as early as 13 months (Huttenlocher, 1974; verbal information to update their representation of an Lewis, 1936). For example, an infant who hears a favorite toy absent object. This developmental advance inaugurates a referred to might go search for it; this behavior indicates that uniquely human and immensely powerful form of learning hearing the name of the toy activated the child’s mental repre- about the world. sentation of it. Recent laboratory studies have confirmed that references to absent objects are comprehended early in the 2nd year of life, Human knowledge is based on a combination of direct and in- and they have provided additional information about the emer- direct experience. A large proportion of people’s knowledge gence of this important ability (Ganea, 2005; Saylor, 2004; comes indirectly—much of it from another person telling them Saylor & Baldwin, 2004). For example, Ganea (2005) reported something new, what Harris (2002) refers to as testimony. that 13- and 14-month-olds can understand references to a Sometimes, testimony informs people about objects or events relatively novel absent object. A group of infants first learned a that are present and directly perceivable (e.g., ‘‘Look at that dog. proper name for a stuffed animal, which was then removed from Its paws are all muddy!’’). Often, however, the subject of the view. When the infants subsequently heard the name of the toy, information is absent at the time one hears it (e.g., ‘‘Matt’s mom they spontaneously attempted to reestablish contact with it, gave him his first haircut, and it looks terrible.’’). The new in- providing evidence that this verbal reference had brought the formation can enter one’s knowledge base because the mental toy to mind. representation of the subject one hears about is activated and This research also revealed that infants’ response to hearing then updated by this communication. someone refer to an absent object is initially fragile. Manipu- The ability to learn through indirect experience rests on the lations of the accessibility of the toy and of the timing of the capacity to understand references to absent entities and events subsequent reference to it demonstrated that the infants were (Hockett, 1960). Although nonhuman animals may share this less likely to search for the toy when slightly more effort was ability to limited degrees (e.g., monkeys may be informed of the required to regain contact with it, or when its name was pro- presence of unseen predators by other animals’ communicative nounced after a delay. Thus, for children as young as 13 months, hearing the name of an absent object can bring it to mind. Address correspondence to Patricia A. Ganea, Department of Psy- Although infants’ response to the mention of an absent object chology, Boston University, 64 Cummington St., Boston, MA 02215. is initially fragile and context dependent, their mental representation 734 Copyright r 2007 Association for Psychological Science Volume 18—Number 8 P.A. Ganea et al. of the object evidently can be activated by what someone else Method says. Subjects This ability sets the stage for the development of the crucial The subjects were 40 children, 20 in each of two groups: 19- ability to acquire new information about absent entities. If in- month-olds (range: 17.6–20.6, M 5 18.9; 12 girls, 8 boys) and fants are able to activate a representation of an unseen object on 22-month-olds (range: 21.2–24.0, M 5 22.3; 11 girls, 9 boys). hearing its name, then they may be able to update that repre- Twenty additional infants were excluded, because of fussiness sentation when they hear of a new event that has befallen the (16), experimenter error (2), or parental interference (2). Chil- object or a new property that it has gained. The present research dren participating in all studies reported here were recruited tested for this latter ability. It is the first we know of to examine through a database of published birth records. The majority of the emergence of the ability to learn something new from ev- subjects were White and middle-class. eryday conversations about absent objects and unseen events. To investigate this ability, we first taught 19- and 22-month- Materials olds a proper name for a stuffed animal. Then, with the toy out of Materials included two sets of three stuffed animals (two iden- sight in another room, the infants heard that the toy had un- tical green frogs and one pink pig or two identical pink pigs and dergone a change in state. The question was whether they would one green frog), a bucket with water, and three aluminum trays. incorporate this information into their mental representation of Half the children at each age were randomly assigned to each the toy. When asked for the animal by name, would the children animal set. select from an array of toys the one that was identical to the original but whose appearance was inconsistent with the new Procedure information, or would they select the one that looked different The procedure included three phases: familiarization, attribu- from the original in a way that was consistent with the new in- tion of new information, and test. formation? Familiarization. The purpose of this phase was to teach the child a proper name (Lucy) for one of the three stuffed animals, as well as to provide the child with equal experience with the STUDY 1 target and the distractor toy. The named animal—the target— was always one of the two identical toys. In the first study, infants were shown three stuffed animals, two The experimenter first showed the child a basket containing of which were identical (e.g., two green frogs and one pink pig). the three animals and then took out the target animal (e.g., one of So that we could later refer to one of the toys in its absence, the the frogs) and labeled it with a proper name—‘‘Lucy.’’ Then she infants were taught a proper name—‘‘Lucy’’—for the target showed the child the nontarget animal, the identical toy (e.g., the animal (one of the two identical toys).1 Then, the children went other frog), saying that it was ‘‘Lucy’s friend,’’ who would sit on a into another room, leaving the toys behind. While they were in cabinet to watch them play. Then the experimenter talked about the other room (with the toys out of sight), a different adult in- the distractor (e.g., pig) without naming it (‘‘Look at the piggy! formed them that something had happened to the target toy— It’s a nice piggy.’’). The experimenter engaged the infant in that she had ‘‘spilled water on Lucy.’’ Finally, the children re- various play activities with the target and distractor (e.g., talking turned to the first room and were asked to identify which of the about their body parts, playing peekaboo), spending an equal three toys was Lucy. amount of time with each. Thus, the child played equally with Of the three toys displayed, two were wet: the target (the orig- the target (‘‘Lucy the frog’’) and the distractor (pig), while the inal Lucy) and the distractor toy. The toy identical to Lucy (the nontarget (frog) was visible but inaccessible. nontarget toy) was dry. Thus, if the children were simply at- The procedure ensured that the child had learned the name tracted to wetness, they should choose randomly between the for the target animal, as the child had to identify it twice during two wet toys. If they remembered the kind of toy that Lucy was, familiarization. After the first play activity (e.g., peekaboo) in but had not updated their representation of Lucy, they would which the child had interacted with the two animals, the ex- either choose the dry toy (because it was more similar to what perimenter placed the target and distractor together and asked they had originally seen) or choose randomly between the target the child to get ‘‘Lucy.’’ If the child chose correctly, the exper- and nontarget toys.
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