Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 26, 2025
11:18
Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task
Published on: June 1, 2015
10.7K
Should I learn from you? Seeing expectancy violations about action efficiency hinders social learning in infancy
Marc Colomer1, Amanda Woodward1
1Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Cognition
|October 3, 2022
Summary
Infants learn better from efficient agents. Unexpected actions by an agent may signal to infants to avoid learning from them, impacting social learning.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Infant Learning
- Social Cognition
Background:
- Infants form expectations about their environment, using expectancy violations to guide learning.
- Prior research shows infants prefer learning from unexpected objects, but less is known about how unexpected actions influence social learning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how infants' learning from and about an agent is affected by the agent's prior efficient or inefficient actions.
- To examine whether infants prefer learning label-object associations from efficient agents and voice-speaker associations from inefficient agents.
Main Methods:
- 18-month-old infants observed an agent acting either efficiently or inefficiently before labeling an object.
- Infants' learning was assessed through attention to the object and the label-object association, and voice-speaker association.
Main Results:
- Infants who saw an efficient agent demonstrated greater attention to the object and learned the label-object association.
- Infants exposed to an inefficient agent did not learn the label-object association.
- No condition showed evidence of infants learning the voice-speaker association.
Conclusions:
- Expectancy violations in an agent's actions may signal a situation to avoid learning from that agent.
- Infants' social learning is selective and influenced by an agent's prior behavior.
- Further research is needed to explore how expectancy violations impact infants' learning about others.
Keywords:
Open dataPrinciple of rationalitySelective learningSocial learningViolation of expectationVisual preferenceMore Related Videos
11:14A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants
Published on: October 4, 2015
11.0K
06:35Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
34.2K
Related Concept Videos
01:22Purposive Learning
185
E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a...
185
01:28Behaviorism
2.6K
The field of behaviorism was pioneered by figures such as Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner fundamentally shifted the focus of psychology to the observable and controllable aspects of human and animal behavior. This shift marked a critical evolution in the discipline, emphasizing scientific rigor and experimental methodology.
The core premise of behaviorism is its focus on observable behavior rather than internal thoughts or feelings. This approach argues that true scientific...
The core premise of behaviorism is its focus on observable behavior rather than internal thoughts or feelings. This approach argues that true scientific...
2.6K
01:06Law of Effect
1.5K
B.F. Skinner, a prominent figure in behavioral psychology, introduced operant conditioning by emphasizing the role of consequences in shaping behavior. This theory builds upon the law of effect proposed by Edward Thorndike, which posits that behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are likely to be repeated. In contrast, those followed by unsatisfying outcomes are less likely to recur.
Edward Thorndike's foundational work involved studying learning in animals, particularly using puzzle...
Edward Thorndike's foundational work involved studying learning in animals, particularly using puzzle...
1.5K
01:12Observational Learning
281
Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning...
281
01:21Cognitive Learning
480
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
480
01:30Socioemotional Development during Infancy
95
Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Primary Temperament Types
95