BAILLARGEON

• What is object permanence?

  Baillargeon's results seem to show that object knowledge is present from a much earlier age, at which infants have very limited experience of interacting with objects.
• Either infants are born with the capacity require object knowledge very easily (innate) or they are born with an understanding of the properties of objects.
• What is violation of expectation?

  Exploits the fact that infants tend to look at things they have not encountered before.
• Showed babies two scenarios: possible and impossible

  Measure how long they look at each

  They repeatedly shown the stimulus until they indicate by looking away that it is no longer new to them.

  In the impossible scenario, infants tended to look at the impossible scenario longer than the possible one - formed an expectation of what they think ought to happen.
• Drawbridge example - 1995

  A coloured box was placed behind the screen moved back-and-forth like a drawbridge

  Infants were first habituated to the screen without the box present

  After habituation, a box was placed behind the screen and the infants were shown two test events:

  Possible event - the screen moved until it reached the box and stopped

  Impossible event - the screen moved through the space by the box completing a 180 arc - the drawbridge appeared to pass through a box and ended up buying a flat and the box apparently disappeared.
• Other examples:

  Ramp example - 1987

  Disappearing carrots example - 1991
• What is eye tracking?

  Infants gaze was monitored using the eye tracking technology - shows direction of gaze

  Data is highly objective and therefore not subject to bias.
• What are making inferences?

  Internal mental states cannot be directly observed must be inferred from behaviour.

  Infant research is further complicated as they cannot report their thoughts/expectations.
• What are lab experiments?

  Only difference between conditions as possible and impossible

  High internal velocity as extraneous variables are controlled.
• Baillargeon vs Piaget 


  VOE experiments suggest that children understand the physical properties of an object from at least three months old -Baillargeon argued it was innate

  Piaget suggested that it did not develop until eight months old.
• What is adaptive process view?

  Suggests that infants knowledge is graded rather than 'all or none'

  May explain why some studies seem to show infants acquiring abilities at different ages

  Same logic can be applied to perspective taking and theory of mind - Hughes' 'policeman doll' vs Piaget 'three mountains'.