Nonverbal category knowledge limits the amount of information encoded in object representations: EEG evidence from 12-month-old infants.

ABSTRACT: To what extent does language shape how we think about the world? Studies suggest that linguistic symbols expressing conceptual categories ('apple', 'squirrel') make us focus on categorical information (e.g. that you saw a squirrel) and disregard individual information (e.g. whether that squirrel had a long or short tail). Across two experiments with preverbal infants, we demonstrated that it is not language but nonverbal category knowledge that determines what information is packed into object representations. Twelve-month-olds (N = 48) participated in an electroencephalography (EEG) change-detection task involving objects undergoing a brief occlusion. When viewing objects from unfamiliar categories, infants detected both across- and within-category changes, as evidenced by their ne

SUBMITTER: Pomiechowska B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8101279 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature