Learning Object Categories Across Time in a 4.5-Month-Old Infants

Abstract

The present study investigated whether infants can connect their learning experiences across time with novel object exemplars to segregate a test display 72 hours later. We examine this question by familiarizing infants to these exemplars by visiting infants in their homes on two days separated by 24 hours and then on a third day 72 hours after the second familiarization session. Immediately following this final familiarization session, we tested infants under one of two conditions: either the infants would view two distinct objects move together (the move-together test event) or move apart (the move-apart test event) after being initially adjoined. When familiarization was immediately followed by a nap, infants looked longer at the move-together test event (violating their understanding that the display contained two distinct, adjoining objects) than at the move-apart test event, suggesting they were able to connect their experiences with the object exemplars across an extended period of time. This result has implications for learning under natural conditions.