Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that when babies are exposed to an unfamiliar object, they derive more information by forming connections between the new object and a similar or familiar object.
When something surprises a child, the child is able to gather more information about the object by consolidating information he or she already has. In the journal Science, cognitive psychologists Aimee E. Stahl and Lisa Feigenson provided evidence to support the argument that young children acquire new information by building upon the core information they possess at birth.
“For young learners, the world is an incredibly complex place filled with dynamic stimuli. How do learners know what to focus on and learn more about, and what to ignore? Our research suggests that infants use what they already know about the world to form predictions. When these predictions are shown to be wrong, infants use this as a special opportunity for learning,” said Feigenson, a professor of psychological and brain sciences in the university’s Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. “When babies are surprised, they learn much better, as though they are taking the occasion to try to figure something out about their world.”
Image Source: Hinterhaus Productions
The study the researchers conducted included four experiments with babies that were 11 months old. Ultimately, researchers discovered that babies wanted to understand objects that behaved in unpredictable ways more than objects with seemingly normal characteristics.
For example, when babies saw an unusual event involving a ball passing through a wall, they tested the solidity of the ball by hitting it against a table. Furthermore, when babies saw a ball appear to float in the air, they physically picked up the ball and proceeded to drop it on the ground, testing the effects of gravity.
Thus, researchers concluded, the actions of the babies were not arbitrary; in fact, the children were testing different hypotheses.
“The infants’ behaviors are not merely reflexive responses to the novelty of surprising outcomes, but instead reflect deeper attempts to learn about aspects of the world that failed to accord with expectations,” said Stahl, the paper’s lead author and a doctoral student in psychological and brain sciences. “Infants are not only equipped with core knowledge about fundamental aspects of the world, but from early in their lives, they harness this knowledge to empower new learning.”
Feature Image Source: Mariana by Theodore Scott
