Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2011 May;109(1):109-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.10.001. Epub 2010 Nov 26.
Past research has shown that variation in the target objects depicting a given spatial relation disrupts the formation of a category representation for that relation. In the current research, we asked whether changing the orientation of the referent frame depicting the spatial relation would also disrupt the formation of a category representation for that relation. Experiments 1 to 3 provided evidence that 6- and 7-month-olds formed a category representation for BETWEEN when a diamond shape was depicted in different locations between two vertical or horizontal reference bars during familiarization and in a novel location between the same orientation of bars during test. By contrast, in Experiment 4, same-age infants did not form a category representation for BETWEEN when the diamond shape was depicted between two vertical (or horizontal) bars during familiarization and between two horizontal (or vertical) bars during test. Moreover, in Experiment 5, 9- and 10-month-olds did form a category representation for BETWEEN when the orientation of the referent bars depicting the relation changed from familiarization to test. The findings suggest that the formation of category representations for spatial relations by infants is affected by changes to either target (figure) or referent (ground).
过去的研究表明，目标对象的变化会破坏对给定空间关系的类别表示的形成。在当前的研究中，我们询问了改变表示空间关系的参照框架的方向是否也会破坏对该关系的类别表示的形成。实验 1 至 3 提供了证据，表明 6 至 7 个月大的婴儿在熟悉阶段，当一个菱形被描绘在两个垂直或水平参考棒之间的不同位置，以及在测试阶段在同一棒的方向上的新位置时，会形成 BETWEEN 的类别表示。相比之下，在实验 4 中，同龄婴儿在熟悉阶段菱形被描绘在两个垂直（或水平）棒之间，而在测试阶段菱形被描绘在两个水平（或垂直）棒之间时，并没有形成 BETWEEN 的类别表示。此外，在实验 5 中，9 至 10 个月大的婴儿在参考棒描绘关系的方向从熟悉阶段到测试阶段发生变化时，确实形成了 BETWEEN 的类别表示。这些发现表明，婴儿对空间关系的类别表示的形成受到目标（图形）或参照（背景）变化的影响。
