Object Function as Facilitator of Categorization in Infancy

对象功能作为婴儿期分类的促进者

• 批准号: 0445871
• 负责人: Amy Booth
• 金额: $ 31.96万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2010-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0445871&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Object; Function; Facilitator; Categorization; Infancy

Our world is composed of an infinite expanse of objects, events, and object properties that must be meaningfully organized by anyone attempting to survive in it. Remarkably, even infants easily categorize this complex environment into meaningful units. How do they succeed at this seemingly overwhelming task? With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Amy Booth will conduct research designed to answer this fundamental question. Specifically, she will consider whether and how infants' natural curiosity about how objects function might facilitate their learning of new categories. The research will be conducted on 14-month-old infants who will be introduced to novel categories under a number of different conditions. Variations in learning success should reveal the components of object function that provide support for forming new categories, as well as the mechanisms by which they do so. Dr. Booth's project will have important implications for theories of early categorization and conceptual development. More broadly, the impacts of this project include applications to early education and intervention programs. The better we understand the mechanisms underlying early conceptual development, the better we will be equipped to identify the experiences that will foster optimal cognitive and linguistic development in children. In addition, this project provides opportunities for several undergraduate and graduate students to directly participate in research.

我们的世界是由试图在其中生存的任何人都必须有意义地组织的物体，事件和对象属性的无限范围组成的。值得注意的是，即使是婴儿也很容易将这个复杂的环境分为有意义的单位。他们如何在这项看似压倒性的任务中取得成功？在国家科学基金会的支持下，艾米·布斯（Amy Booth）博士将进行旨在回答这个基本问题的研究。具体来说，她将考虑婴儿对物体功能如何促进他们对新类别的学习的自然好奇心。这项研究将针对14个月大的婴儿进行，他们将在许多不同的疾病下被引入新类别。学习成功的变化应揭示对象函数的组成部分，以支持形成新类别的支持以及它们这样做的机制。布斯博士的项目将对早期分类和概念发展的理论具有重要意义。更广泛地说，该项目的影响包括对早期教育和干预计划的申请。我们越理解早期概念发展的基础机制，我们就可以越能确定能够促进儿童最佳认知和语言发展的经验。此外，该项目为几个本科生和研究生提供了直接参与研究的机会。