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Learning about tools in infancy.

Tracy M Barrett1, Evan F Davis, Amy Needham

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0086, USA.

Developmental Psychology
|March 14, 2007
PubMed
Summary
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Infants’ prior experiences shape their tool use. Early on, infants learn which part of a novel tool to grasp, rather than its function.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Infant Behavior

Background:

  • Infants' understanding and use of tools develop significantly during the first two years of life.
  • Prior experience is hypothesized to play a crucial role in shaping early tool-directed actions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how prior experience influences tool use in 12- to 18-month-old infants.
  • To determine if infants learn tool function or preferred grasp points through experience.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1: Assessed infants' use of a familiar tool (spoon) in a novel task, comparing it to their use of a novel tool.
  • Experiment 2: Trained infants to grasp a novel tool in specific ways and tested their subsequent performance.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Infants rigidly grasped a familiar tool (spoon) by its handle, even when it hindered task completion.
  • Infants demonstrated flexible grasping with a novel tool.
  • Training infants on specific grasps for a novel tool facilitated performance on tasks requiring those grasps.

Conclusions:

  • Infants' prior experiences with tools are critical for their subsequent tool-directed actions.
  • Early learning focuses on which part of a novel tool to hold, rather than its functional purpose.