Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
Published on: April 19, 2017
Comment on "Ducklings imprint on the relational concept of 'same or different'"
1Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Université Toulouse Paul Sabatier and CNRS, CNRS CERCO UMR 5549, Pavillon Baudot, CHU Purpan, BP 25202, 31052 Toulouse Cedex 3, France.
Abstract:
Martinho and Kacelnik's (Reports, 15 July 2016, p. 286) finding that mallard ducklings can deal with abstract concepts is important for understanding the evolution of cognition. However, a statistically more robust analysis of the data calls their conclusions into question. This example brings to light the risk of drawing too strong an inference by relying solely on P values.
Related Concept Videos
Imprinting
Causes of Similarity-Dissimilarity Effect
Factors Influencing Attraction III: Similarity
Concepts and Prototypes
The brain organizes this information using concepts, which are mental categories grouping linguistic data,...
Relationship Formation
Complementation Tests
Organisms heterozygous for different mutations are crossed pairwise in all combinations. If present on different genes, the mutations can complement each other by providing the missing...

