Baillargeon's Explanation of Infant Abilities

Question 1

Who is Baillargeon?

Answer 1

• She suggested that young babies had a better understanding of the physical world than Piaget had suggested.

Question 2

VOE

Answer 2

• Violation of Expectation
• Exposing infants to something that is unexpected - suggests that they have an intact knowledge of that aspect of the world

Question 3

Procedure of VOE

Answer 3

• Showed 24 babies, 5-6 months, a tall and short rabbit passing behind a screen with a window
• Expected event - short rabbit is not visible because of the height of the window
• Unexpected Event - tall rabbit would not be seen through the window - moves from one side of the screen to the other
• A baby who has object permanence should show surprise in unexpected events

Question 4

Findings of VOE

Answer 4

• 33.07 seconds (unexpected)
• 25.11 (expected)
• Meaning babies were surprised at the unexpected
• Demonstrates good understanding of object permanence

Question 5

Physical Reasoning System (PRS)

Answer 5

• born with it
• When infants learn to reason about physical movements they first have all or no basic awareness
• Primitive awareness - develops understanding and becomes more sophisticated with experience

Question 6

What is Occlusion?

Answer 6

• Takes place when one object blocks the view of another one

Question 7

What is Event Categories

Answer 7

• In the first few weeks of life infants identify these
• Each object corresponds to one way in which objects interact