logic in infants the ability of infants to perform disjunctive syllogism allison hyland, 2012...
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Logic in Infants
The ability of infants to perform disjunctive syllogism
Allison Hyland, 2012Supervised by Dr. Susan Carey and Shilpa Mody
Presentation OverviewDescription of Disjunctive
SyllogismReview of previous studiesMethods of our studyResultsImplicationsPotential future studiesQuestions
Implications of this researchChrysippus Dog AnecdoteHow can we do this?What kinds of symbols are
available in the mind?What computational tools and
devices do we have access to?
Disjunctive SyllogismSimple argument formProcess of elimination
◦A or B◦Not B◦Must be A
Also called modus tollendo ponens
Mutually Exclusive (only one possibility can be correct)
Previous StudiesHalberda, 2003: The
development of a word-learning strategy
Looking time study
Results
Still leaves the question:◦Did the infants use Disjunctive
Syllogism (logic) or simply match novel to novel without performing logic (N3C)
◦Why did 14 month olds exhibit opposite behavior?
Previous StudiesHalberda, 2006: Is this a dax
which I see before me?In response to unaddressed
issues of previous studyAnother looking time study with
more stringent statistical techniques
Done first on adults to indicate if his procedure was efficient
Results: General task success
Results: double checks
Halberda, 2006-cont.Did similar procedure with
preschool-aged childrenPreferential pointing method and
quantitative evaluation of number of double-checks
Results: general task success
Results: double checking success
Previous StudiesDisjunctive syllogism just for word-
learning? Or domain general?Waxman & Booth, 2000: Principles
that are invoked during the acquisition of words but not facts
Tested whether children can map novel words to novel objects/novel facts to novel objects AND whether they could extend the significance of these novel objects to similar objects in each case
Results
Previous StudiesDomain Specificity?Spiegel, Yamaguchi, Heverly-Fitt,
Halberda, 2009: Children’s use of logical inference in mapping novel voices to novel characters
Preferential pointing technique in children
Results
Still leaves the question:◦When do children develop the ability
to perform disjunctive syllogism in simple, A or B situations?
Our StudyWe are investigating whether infants
can reason about possibilities using the process of elimination. They will see that a toy is being hidden in one of two locations, but will not know which one it is in. Can they use visual or verbal information about where the object is not to determine where it is?
How will we do this?
Methods: Based on Previous StudyCall, 2004: Inferences about the
location of food in the great apes2 variables:
◦Visual clue as to location of where food was/was not
◦Auditory clue as to location of where food was/was not
Results suggests inferential reasoning
Our Methods and ProcedureSubjectPhysical set up2 Practice Trials4 Test TrialsTypes of EvidenceCounterbalancing of Conditions:
◦PL, PR, VL, VR
What does this look like?
Results
12 14 16 18 20 22 240%
10%
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30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
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100%
Percent correct by age
Results
trial1 trial2 trial3 trial40%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Percent correct by trial (23-month-olds)
Conclusions so far
Not very many childrenTentatively our data supports
that children aged between 23 and 24 months can successfully perform disjunctive syllogism
ImplicationsResults at 23 monthsBaseline and definitive age at
which children can perform this simple logic
Potential Future StudiesYounger ChildrenVerbal Cues
Questions?
References Call, Josep. (2004). Inferences about the location of food in the
great apes (pan paniscus, pan troglodytes, gorilla gorilla, and pongo pygmaeus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 118(2), 232-241.
Halberda, Justin. (2003). The development of a word-learning strategy. Cognition, 87(2003), B23-B34.
Halberda, Justin. (2006). Is this a dax which I see before me? Use of the logical argument disjunctive syllogism supports word-learning in children and adults. Cognitive Psychology, 53(2006), 310-344.
Spiegel, Chad A., Yamaguchi, Mariko, Heverly-Fitt, Sara & Halberda, Justin. (2009). Children’s use of logical inference in mapping novel voices to novel characters. Poster presented at Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.
Waxman, S. & Booth, A. (2000). Principals that are invoked during the acquisition of words but not facts. Cognition, 77(2), 33-43.