Lecture 1 - Part 4 Flashcards
Measuring infant knowledge
what is the preferential looking paradigm
a paradigm used to determine if infants can distinguish between different visual stimuli, and whether or not they have a preference for one
how is it possible to know if an infant has a preference when looking at two stimuli
if they spend additional time focusing on one rather than the other, there is some preference
how does preferential looking not work with negative results
if baby looks at A and B equally, they either fail to discriminate between the two or show no preference
what is the inter-modal preferential looking paradigm
used to determine if infants can link stimuli across modalities
gives the baby a choice between two images and only one image matches the audio
if the baby comprehends the link, they are predicted to spend longer looking at the matching rather than the other
what is the habituation paradigm
this is used to determine if infants can distinguish between different stimuli, by having a stimulus repeatedly presented until infant attention wanes and looking time reaches criterion
what does criterion mean in the habituation paradigm
half of the looking time of the first presentation
what is the violation of expectency paradigm
this is used to determine if infants have expectations about events in the world
if the infant looks longer after an inconsistent prediction, it suggests they had an expectation of what should have happened
what is the anticipatory looking paradigm
used to determine if infants can predict events in the world by measuring the direction of an infant’s first look after an event
the direction of looking is analysed to determine if they correctly expect what will happen next
what are some problems with these paradigms?
novelty preference vs familiarity preference
negative results hard to interpret
levels of interpretation - is it perception or cognition?
are infants actually processing or is it just a blank stare?
how do we decide when to exclude pets
