Development as progressive inhibitory control of action: retrieval of a contiguous object
Year: 1989
Type: article
Abstract: A conception of development is offered emphasizing that the child must not only acquire knowledge, but must also inhibit reactions that get in the way of expressing knowledge that is already present. In Experiment 1, 60 infants—12 each at 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 months of age-were tested with a rectangular toy and a small box open at the top. All succeeded when the toy was in the box not touching the front wall, and in all conditions of contiguity where the toy could be retrieved by reaching along a straight line. However, all 7-month-olds failed the contiguous condition when required first to reach over the front wall and then back for the toy. Eleven-month-olds succeeded from the outset; 8 to 10-month-olds benefitted most from experience during testing. In Experiment 2, 16 infants of 7 months and 8 infants of 10 months retrieved the toy under all conditions of contiguity where any portion of the toy was in front of the wall, extended farther from the wall than one half the wall's height, or rose to the same height as the wall or higher. In all of these conditions, the toy could be retrieved by reaching along a straight line. Seven-month-olds failed to retrieve the toy, however, even when it did not share a boundary with the front wall of the box, if distance from wall plus width of toy was less than half the wall's height. Here, infants had to first reach over the front wall and then reverse direction to retrieve the toy. Seven-month-olds touched the edge of the box significantly more often on these trials, and reacted to those touches by reflexively grasping the box or withdrawing their hand. We conclude that 7-month-old infants understand that an object is still there when it shares a boundary with another object (contrary to the theorizing of Piaget and of Bower).
Source: Cognitive Development
Authors: Adele Diamond, Jeanne Gilbert
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,290
OpenAlex ID: W1991756841