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The influence of language labels on infants' ability to discriminate between pushing and pulling
381 THE INFLUENCE OF LANGUAGE LABELS ON INFANTS’ ABILITY TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN PUSHING AND PULLING Marianella Casasola and Leslie B. Cohen Department
of Psychology,
Mezes 330, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 787 12
Previous research has shown that 16month-old infants are capable of distinguishing between two different causal actions: pushing and pulling. The present study explored lo- and 14-month-old infants’ ability to discriminate between these two causal actions in the presence of nonsense language labels. 128 infants were habituated to a Lego toy either pushing or pulling a toy can across a television screen. A nonsense label, “neem” for one half of the infants or “lif’ for the other half, was presented simultaneously with the initiation of the action and was repeated for as long as the action continued. Following habituation, infants in the constant action condition viewed the familiar action and familiar label during one test trial and the same familiar action and an unfamiliar label during a second test trial. Infants in the constant label condition were shown pushing with the familiar label and pulling with the same familiar label. Results indicated that lo-month-old infants in both conditions did not look significantly longer at the event with a change in either the label or the action. However, 14-month-old infants in the constant action condition, who were presented with a change in label, looked significantly longer at the event with the unfamiliar label. Fourteen-monthold infants in the constant label condition, who heard the same label paired with each action, did not look significantly longer at the event with the unfamiliar action. In comparison to previous research which had established that 16month-old infants could discriminate between pushing and pulling in the presence of instrumental music, the results of the present study suggest that language labels interfere with 16month-old infants’ ability to discriminate between pushing and pulling. This interference may be attributable to an attentional overload or to the fact that by 14 months of age, labels signal notable similarities as well as differences between environmental events.
of Psychology,
Mezes 330, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 787 12
Previous research has shown that 16month-old infants are capable of distinguishing between two different causal actions: pushing and pulling. The present study explored lo- and 14-month-old infants’ ability to discriminate between these two causal actions in the presence of nonsense language labels. 128 infants were habituated to a Lego toy either pushing or pulling a toy can across a television screen. A nonsense label, “neem” for one half of the infants or “lif’ for the other half, was presented simultaneously with the initiation of the action and was repeated for as long as the action continued. Following habituation, infants in the constant action condition viewed the familiar action and familiar label during one test trial and the same familiar action and an unfamiliar label during a second test trial. Infants in the constant label condition were shown pushing with the familiar label and pulling with the same familiar label. Results indicated that lo-month-old infants in both conditions did not look significantly longer at the event with a change in either the label or the action. However, 14-month-old infants in the constant action condition, who were presented with a change in label, looked significantly longer at the event with the unfamiliar label. Fourteen-monthold infants in the constant label condition, who heard the same label paired with each action, did not look significantly longer at the event with the unfamiliar action. In comparison to previous research which had established that 16month-old infants could discriminate between pushing and pulling in the presence of instrumental music, the results of the present study suggest that language labels interfere with 16month-old infants’ ability to discriminate between pushing and pulling. This interference may be attributable to an attentional overload or to the fact that by 14 months of age, labels signal notable similarities as well as differences between environmental events.