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Developmental Change in Infant Categorization: The Perception of Correlations among Facial Features
Author(s) -
Younger Barbara
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1992.tb01712.x
Subject(s) - psychology , categorization , habituation , correlation , generality , developmental psychology , perception , categorical perception , categorical variable , facial expression , face perception , infant development , cognitive psychology , communication , statistics , speech perception , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , geometry , mathematics , computer science , psychotherapist
Previous studies indicated that the ability to detect correlations among attributes emerges between 7 and 10 months of age. In the present study, the generality of this developmental transition was examined. Using an infant‐control habituation procedure, 48 7‐and10‐month‐old infants were tested for the perception of correlations among basic facial features. The developmental effects were replicated. Only the 10‐month‐old infants demonstrated their sensitivity to the pattern of correlation by generalizing to a novel face that preserved the experienced pattern of correlation, while showing increased attention to a face in which the pattern of correlation was viclated. 7‐month‐old infants generalized to both test stimuli containing familiar features, regardless of the status of the correlation. Implications for face perception and the processing of categorical information are discussed.