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Learning About Tool Categories via Eavesdropping
Author(s) -
Phillips Brenda,
Seston Rebecca,
Kelemen Deborah
Publication year - 2012
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.1467-8624.2012.01827.x
Subject(s) - eavesdropping , psychology , artifact (error) , task (project management) , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , computer science , computer security , neuroscience , management , economics
Prior research has found that toddlers will form enduring artifact categories after direct exposure to an adult using a novel tool. Four studies explored whether 2‐ ( N = 48) and 3‐year‐olds ( N = 32) demonstrate this same capacity when learning by eavesdropping. After surreptitiously observing an adult use 1 of 2 artifacts to operate a bell via a monitor, 3‐year‐olds returned to the demonstrated kind of tool as “for” the task and avoided it for an alternative task over 2 days. Two‐year‐olds performed similarly after eavesdropping on someone with more discriminable artifacts via the method of a window rather than a monitor. These results demonstrate that toddlers can acquire enduring artifact categories after less than 40 s of surreptitious observation.