Biomedical subjects

Vladimir M Sloutsky

Publications and source records attributed to Vladimir M Sloutsky.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Induction and categorization in young children: a similarity-based model.

The authors present a similarity-based model of induction and categorization in young children (SINC). The model suggests that (a). linguistic labels contribute to the perceived similarity of compared entities and (b). categorization and induction are a function of similarity computed over perceptual information and linguistic labels. The model also predicts young children's similarity judgment, induction, and categorization performance under different stimuli and task conditions. Predictions of the model were tested and confirmed in 6 experiments, in which 4- to 5-year-olds performed similarity judgment, induction, and categorization tasks using artificial and real labels (Experiments 1-4) and recognition memory tasks (Experiments 5A and 5B). Results corroborate the similarity-based account of young children's induction and categorization, and they support both qualitative and quantitative predictions of the model.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed2004

When development and learning decrease memory. Evidence against category-based induction in children.

Inductive inference is crucial for learning: If one learns that a cat has a particular biological property, one could expand this knowledge to other cats. We argue that young children perform induction on the basis of similarity of compared entities, whereas adults may induce on the basis of category information. If different processes underlie induction at different points in development, young children and adults would form different memory traces during induction, and would subsequently have different memory accuracy. Experiment 1 demonstrates that after performing an induction task, 5-year-olds exhibit more accurate memory than adults. Experiment 2 indicates that after 5-year-olds are trained to perform induction in an adultlike manner, their memory accuracy drops to the level of adults. These results, indicating that sometimes 5-year-olds exhibit better memory than adults, support the claim that, unlike adults, young children perform similarity-based rather than category-based induction.

Child Development↗

PubMed2004

Naive theory and transfer of learning: when less is more and more is less.

In this research, we examine how young children perform induction in the domain of biology. According to the essentialist view, even young children have a priori knowledge that some predictors of biological properties are central, whereas others are peripheral. According to the flexible-learning view, the roles of predictors are not fixed, and young children flexibly learn the predictive value of each predictor. In the experiment reported, 4- to 5-year-olds and 11- to 12-year-old preadolescents were taught the predictive values of features that were (by the essentialist account) either central or peripheral for predicting the biological properties of animals. Retention of the learned predictors was then tested immediately after learning, 1 h afterleaning, and 2.5-3.5 months later. The results indicate that 2.5-3.5 months after learning, young children retained learned predictors well regardless of their putative centrality, whereas preadolescents were likely to retain and recall only central, but not peripheral, predictors. These results do not support the essentialist claim that young children differentiate between central (or essential) and peripheral predictors in the domain of biology and, thus, challenge the naive-theory view of induction in young children.

Child↗

PubMed2002

Processing of logically valid and logically invalid conditional inferences in discourse comprehension.

Two competing theories of processing of conditionals (if-then) were tested. Syntactic theories posit that people only draw inferences conforming to the logically valid modus ponens (MP) schema. Mental models theories predict that people draw MP and invalid affirming-the-consequent (AC) inferences. Three experiments tested these predictions. Participants read short stories that conformed to either the MP or AC form but without conclusions, and they completed either priming or recognition tasks. Results indicate that both MP and AC inferences occur during discourse processing: MP and AC premise forms prime their respective conclusions, participants erroneously judged that they had read the conclusions to MP and AC arguments, and AC inferences did not stem from a biconditional interpretation of conditionals. Findings support mental models theories.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Is a picture worth a thousand words? Preference for auditory modality in young children.

Linguistic labels play an important role in young children's conceptual organization: When 2 entities share a label, people expect these entities to share many other properties. Two classes of explanations of the importance of labels seem plausible: a language-specific and a general auditory explanation. The general auditory explanation argues that the importance of labels stems from a privileged processing status of auditory input (as compared with visual input) for young children. This hypothesis was tested and supported in 4 experiments. When auditory and visual stimuli were presented separately, 4-year-olds were likely to process both kinds of stimuli, whereas when auditory and visual stimuli were presented simultaneously, 4-year-olds were more likely to process auditory stimuli than visual stimuli.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Auditory dominance and its change in the course of development.

Young children often have a preference for auditory input, with auditory input often overshadowing visual input. The current research investigated the developmental trajectory and factors underlying these effects with 137 infants, 132 four-year-olds, and 89 adults. Auditory preference reverses with age: Infants demonstrated an auditory preference, 4-year-olds switched between auditory and visual preference, and adults demonstrated a visual preference. Furthermore, younger participants were likely to process stimuli only in the preferred modality, thus exhibiting modality dominance, whereas adults processed stimuli in both modalities. Finally, younger participants ably processed stimuli presented to the nonpreferred modality when presented in isolation, indicating that auditory and visual stimuli may be competing for attention early in development. Underlying factors and broader implications of these findings are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Is a picture worth a thousand words? The flexible nature of modality dominance in young children.

When presented simultaneously with equally discriminable, but unfamiliar, visual and auditory stimuli, 4-year-olds exhibited auditory dominance, processing only auditory information (Sloutsky & Napolitano, 2003). The current study examined factors underlying auditory dominance. In 6 experiments, 4-year-olds (N=181) were presented with auditory and visual compounds in which (a) the complexity and familiarity of stimuli were systematically varied (Experiments 1-5) and (b) participants were explicitly instructed to attend to a particular modality (Experiment 6). Results indicate that auditory dominance is a special case of flexible modality dominance, which may stem from automatic pulls on attention. Theoretical implications of these results for understanding the development of attention and cross-modal processing, as well as linguistic and conceptual development, are discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

When induction meets memory: evidence for gradual transition from similarity-based to category-based induction.

The ability to perform induction appears early; however, underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Some argue that early induction is category based, whereas others suggest that early induction is similarity based. Category- and similarity-based induction should result in different memory traces and thus in different memory accuracy. Performing induction resulted in low memory accuracy in adults and 11-year-olds, whereas 5-, and 7-year-olds were highly accurate (Experiment 1). After training to perform category-based induction, 5- and 7-year-olds exhibited patterns of accuracy similar to those of adults (Experiment 2). Furthermore, 7-year-olds, but not 5-year-olds, retained this training over time (Experiment 3). With novel categories, even adults performed similarity-based induction, exhibiting high memory accuracy (Experiment 4). These results suggest a gradual transition from similarity- to category-based induction with familiar categories.

Adolescent↗