Baillargeon's Explanation of Early Infant Abilities

Question 1

Knowledge of the physical world

Answer 1

This refers to understanding how the physical world works. An example of this knowledge is object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist when they leave the visual field. There is a debate concerning the ages at which children develop this kind of knowledge.

Question 2

Nativist approach

Answer 2

theory that suggests humans are born with innate abilities.

Question 3

Physical reasoning system (PRS)

Answer 3

An innate system that provides a framework for reasoning about the displacements and interactions of physical objects.

Question 4

Violation
of
expectation research

Answer 4

approach to investigating infants’ knowledge of the world. The idea is that if children understand how the physical world operates then they will expect certain things to happen situations. If these do not occur and children react accordingly, this suggests that they have an intact knowledge of that aspect of the world.