Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 14, 2025

Visualization Method for Proprioceptive Drift on a 2D Plane Using Support Vector Machine
07:05

Visualization Method for Proprioceptive Drift on a 2D Plane Using Support Vector Machine

Published on: October 27, 2016

9.3K

Young infants' expectations about a self-propelled agent's body

Youjung Choi1, Jin Seok2, Yuyan Luo3

  • 1School of Psychological and Behavior Sciences, Southern Illinois University, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Carbondale, IL 62901, United States.

Cognition
|October 8, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Infants understand that self-propelled agents need an intact body to move. Even at 6.5 months, they expect opening a novel agent to hinder its function, showing early biological reasoning.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Infant Cognition

Background:

  • Previous research suggests 8-month-old infants identify self-propelled objects as animals and expect them to have closed bodies.
  • Understanding the origins of biological reasoning in early development is crucial for cognitive science.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether 6.5-month-old infants possess intuitive biological expectations regarding novel self-propelled agents.
  • To examine infants' understanding of the causal relationship between an agent's body integrity and its mobility.

Main Methods:

  • A group of 50 infants (6.5 months old) participated in the study.
  • Infants observed a novel self-propelled box agent undergoing a temporary opening and closing operation.
  • Their expectations regarding the agent's subsequent movement were measured.

Main Results:

  • Infants expected the agent's ability to move to be impaired after its body was temporarily opened.
  • The presence or absence of an internal cuboid within the agent did not influence infant expectations.
  • This indicates infants grasp the importance of body integrity for movement but lack specific internal knowledge.

Conclusions:

  • 6.5-month-old infants demonstrate an intuitive understanding of the necessity of an intact body for a novel agent's mobility.
  • These findings suggest early-developing biological reasoning focuses on functional integrity rather than specific internal structures.
  • The study provides new insights into the developmental trajectory of biological understanding in human infants.

Keywords:
Biological understandingCognitionInfancy

More Related Videos

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation06:53

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Published on: March 1, 2017

13.3K
Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency08:01

Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency

Published on: October 28, 2020

5.7K

Related Concept Videos

Self-Concept01:19

Self-Concept

Self-concept is the cognitive and emotional understanding individuals hold about their identity. It evolves through various developmental stages, beginning in infancy and maturing as children grow. This concept influences how individuals perceive their abilities, interact with others, and manage challenges throughout life.
Infancy and Emerging Recognition
During infancy, self-concept is virtually nonexistent. Babies do not distinguish themselves as separate entities and often mistake their...
34
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

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.
640
The Nativist Approach01:21

The Nativist Approach

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...
79
Self-Schemas02:16

Self-Schemas

In general, a schema is a mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts (Bartlett, 1932). There are many different types of schemata, and they all have one thing in common: schemata are a method of organizing information that allows the brain to work more efficiently. When a schema is activated, the brain makes immediate assumptions about the person or object being observed.
31.1K
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification03:00

Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification

Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
5.2K
Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development

The preoperational stage, the second of Jean Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, spans approximately ages 2 to 7 and is characterized by the emergence of symbolic thinking. During this stage, children use language, images, and symbols to represent objects and concepts, enabling them to engage in imaginative and pretend play. This symbolic thinking supports children's ability to perform make-believe actions, such as imagining a broom as a horse or their hand as a phone,...
85