Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 16, 2025
06:15
Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism
Published on: October 3, 2018
8.0K
Ontogenetic Emergence of Cognitive Reference Comprehension
Johanna Rüther1, Ulf Liszkowski1
1Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Hamburg.
Cognitive Science
|July 5, 2020
Summary
Infants develop cognitive reference comprehension around 12 months, not earlier. This foundational skill emerges from social interaction, rather than driving it, challenging early cognitive theories.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Prelinguistic cognitive reference comprehension is crucial for language development.
- Its origins in the first year of life are poorly understood.
- This study contrasts cognitivist and social interactionist perspectives.
Purpose of the Study:
- Determine when infants cognitively expect an occluded object after a pointing cue.
- Investigate if cognitive expectations predict social interaction skills or vice versa.
Main Methods:
- Monthly observations of infants aged 10-13 months.
- Behavioral search during a reference comprehension task.
- Assessment of spontaneous infant and parent pointing for social interaction skills.
Main Results:
- Cognitive reference comprehension increased linearly, with significant performance at 12 months.
- Individual stability and correlation with referential pointing emerged at 12 months.
- Cognitive expectations were predicted by social interaction skills, not the other way around.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive reference comprehension is not early emerging or innate.
- It develops through social construction, influenced by earlier social interactions.
- This skill does not causally drive early social interaction skills.
Keywords:
Cognitive developmentJoint attentionNonverbal communicationObject choiceObject expectationsPointingReferenceSearchMore Related Videos
05:35Experience 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
7.0K
07:36Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects
Published on: November 30, 2018
16.2K
Related Concept Videos
01:17Cognitivism
2.5K
Cognitive psychology emerged as a significant field in the mid-20th century. It focused on understanding humans' internal mental processes. This approach emphasizes how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems—elements critical to human cognition.
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
2.5K
01:24Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition
208
A revisionist approach to Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development has brought new insights that challenge and reinterpret his established ideas. Piaget proposed that the formal operational stage, emerging in adolescence, represents the culmination of cognitive maturity. During this stage, individuals are said to develop abstract thinking, engage in systematic problem-solving, and show a form of egocentrism, believing others are as preoccupied with their behavior as they are...
208
01:25Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development from Childhood into Adulthood
989
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development emphasizes the role of thinking in a child's learning process, suggesting that children are naturally curious about their environment. His approach to development is discontinuous, proposing that cognitive abilities progress through distinct stages, each with unique characteristics. Central to Piaget's theory is schemata—mental structures that allow individuals to understand and interpret the world.
Schemata: Building Blocks of Knowledge
Schemata: Building Blocks of Knowledge
989
01:21The Nativist Approach
299
The nativist approach to infant cognitive development proposes that infants are born with inherent knowledge structures that allow them to interpret the world almost immediately. This perspective contrasts with earlier developmental theories, such as those proposed by Jean Piaget, which emphasized a more gradual acquisition of cognitive abilities through interaction with the environment. One key concept in this approach is object permanence — the understanding that objects continue to...
299
01:14Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
1.3K
The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
Exploration...
1.3K
01:20Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
2.0K
Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychology studies how information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
2.0K