Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Twelve-month-old infants interpret action in context.

A L Woodward1, J A Sommerville

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 South University Ave., Chicago, IL 60637, USA. alw1@ccp.uchicago.edu

Psychological Science
|March 7, 2001
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Neural correlates involved in perspective-taking in early childhood.

Developmental cognitive neuroscience·2024
Same author

An obligate role for T-cell receptor alphabeta+ T cells but not T-cell receptor gammadelta+ T cells, B cells, or CD40/CD40L interactions in a mouse model of atopic dermatitis.

The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology·2001
Same author

Age-related changes in children's use of external representations.

Developmental psychology·1999
Same author

Infants' learning about words and sounds in relation to objects.

Child development·1999
Same author

Infants selectively encode the goal object of an actor's reach.

Cognition·1999
Same author

Distinct 15q genotypes in Russell-Silver and ring 15 syndromes.

American journal of medical genetics·1996
Same journal

How Does the Mind Grow? Cross-Cultural Intuitive Theories of Mental Development.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Not All Practice Is Created Equal: Longitudinal Evidence From Over 40,000 Chess Players.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Eye Glint as a Novel Perceptual Cue in Human Vision.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Multitarget Visual Search Flexibly Switches Between Concurrent and Sequential Search Modes.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Motive Alignment Promotes Adolescents' Proenvironmental Behavior: A Field Experiment in Two Cultures.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Retributive Sentiments Track Both Deterrent and Compensatory Concerns in a Small-Scale Society and a WEIRD Sample.

Psychological science·2026
See all related articles

Twelve-month-old infants understand sequential actions serve overarching goals. They interpret actions within a causal framework, linking them to intended outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Development
  • Infant Psychology
  • Action Understanding

Background:

  • Infants' ability to infer goals from actions is crucial for social learning.
  • Understanding how infants connect sequential actions to broader intentions is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if infants connect sequential actions to an overarching goal.
  • To determine if infants use temporal or causal relations to link actions.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments with 12-month-old infants.
  • Experiment 1: Embedding an ambiguous action within a goal-directed sequence.
  • Experiment 2: Manipulating temporal vs. causal links between actions.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Infants construed an ambiguous action as goal-directed after seeing it in a goal-oriented sequence.
  • Infants failed to link actions when the causal relation was broken, despite preserved temporal sequence.

    • Conclusions:

    • 12-month-old infants relate individual actions to overarching goals.
    • Infants utilize a causal framework to understand goal-directed actions.