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. 2012 Nov;83(6):1978-95.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01824.x. Epub 2012 Aug 2.

Infants use compression information to infer objects' weights: examining cognition, exploration, and prospective action in a preferential-reaching task

Petra Hauf  1 , Markus Paulus, Renée Baillargeon
Affiliations

Infants use compression information to infer objects' weights: examining cognition, exploration, and prospective action in a preferential-reaching task

Petra Hauf et al. Child Dev. 2012 Nov.

Abstract

The present research used a preferential-reaching task to examine whether 9- and 11-month-olds (n=144) could infer the relative weights of two objects resting on a soft, compressible platform. Experiment 1 established that infants reached preferentially for the lighter of 2 boxes. In Experiments 2-4, infants saw 2 boxes identical except in weight resting on a cotton wool platform. Infants reached prospectively for the lighter box, but only when their initial exploratory activities provided critical information. At 11 months, infants succeeded as long as they first determined that the platform was compressible; at 9 months, infants succeeded only if they also explored the boxes and thus had advance knowledge that they differed in weight.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic depiction of the stimuli and procedure used in Experiments 1 to 4.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean percentage of trials 9- and 11-month-olds reached preferentially for the lighter box in Experiments 1 to 4. Error bars represent standard errors of the mean.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlations between time spent in weight-relevant exploration of the lighter and heavier boxes during the exploration phase (out of a maximum of 90 s, with 45 s per box) and reaching preferentially for the lighter box during the test phase. Correlations are shown separately for the 9- and 11-month-olds in Experiment 1 (top) and Experiment 2 (bottom).
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