The Power of Infant Statistical Learning and Correlated Cues on Visual Learning

The current study investigated whether infants are able to use correlated cues, cues that occur in conjunction with one another, to learn a visual pattern. Correlated cues are clues in the environment that help the individual detect patterns. During the learning phase of the experiment, 16-month-olds were exposed to a continuous sequence of colored shapes superimposed with faces. Each specific shape was superimposed with a distinct face. The shapes and faces act as correlated cues, which help the infant learn the pattern. During testing, infants saw the shapes without the superimposed faces. By removing the superimposed faces one of the cues infants used to recognize the pattern is taken away. On half the test trials infants saw sequences consistent with the shape pattern they viewed during learning. The other half of the trials contained sequences the infant had never seen before. Results indicate that infants look longer at the novel sequences. Although the infants were unable to demonstrate learning, the difference in looking time indicates infants were able to recognize the sequences were not exactly the same.