Ganea Patricia A, Shutts Kristin, Spelke Elizabeth S, DeLoache Judy S
Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Psychol Sci. 2007 Aug;18(8):734-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01968.x.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of humans is the capacity to learn from what other people tell them. Often new information is provided about an entity that is not present, requiring incorporation of that information into one's mental representation of the absent object. Here we present evidence regarding the emergence of this vital ability. Nineteen- and 22-month-old infants first learned a name for a toy and later were told that the toy had undergone a change in state (it had become wet) while out of view. The 22-month-olds (but not the 19-month-olds) subsequently identified the toy solely on the basis of the property that they were told about but had never seen. Thus, before the end of their 2nd year, infants can use verbal information to update their representation of an absent object. This developmental advance inaugurates a uniquely human and immensely powerful form of learning about the world.
人类最显著的特征之一是有能力从他人告知的信息中学习。通常会提供关于某个不在场实体的新信息，这就需要将该信息纳入到个人对这个不在场物体的心理表征中。在此，我们展示了关于这种重要能力出现的证据。19个月和22个月大的婴儿首先学习了一个玩具的名称，随后被告知该玩具在他们看不到的时候状态发生了变化（它变湿了）。22个月大的婴儿（但19个月大的婴儿没有）随后仅凭他们被告知但从未见过的属性就识别出了这个玩具。因此，在两岁结束前，婴儿就能利用言语信息来更新他们对不在场物体的表征。这一发展进步开创了一种独特的、极为强大的了解世界的人类学习形式。
