Infants Ability to Learn That Animates Possess ?Vital Forces?.pdf.pdf' (389.23 kB)
Infants' Ability to Learn That Animates Possess ‘Vital Forces’
thesis
posted on 2009-04-23, 00:00 authored by Sarah DeWathPrevious studies have shown that preschoolers endorse abstract reasons as causally responsible
for familiar biological events for animals (e.g., energy causes movement) but not for machines
(Gottfried & Gelman, 2005). These biological phenomena are often explained by vitalistic
explanations within a naïve theory of biology (Morris, Taplin, & Gelman, 2000). Understanding
the distinction in the categorization of energy and motion of animates and inanimates is
important in assessing the role of energy production and transfer. In this study, I examined
whether infants categorize animates and inanimates by their differences in energy and motion.
Infants at 11-13 and 15-17 months of age were habituated to a casual event between an agent and
recipient ball, modeled after Michotte (1963).
History
Date
2009-04-23Advisor(s)
David RakisonDepartment
- Psychology