DEVELOPMENTAL-CHANGES IN INFANTS ATTENTION TO FUNCTION AND FORM FUNCTION CORRELATIONS

Three experiments used an object-examining task to explore infants' attention to function and form-function correlations. In Experiment 1, 10- and 14-month-old infants were familiarized with a single object and were tested with an object that differed from the first in form, in function, or in both form and function. Ten-month-old infants responded only to differences in form, but 14-month-old infants responded to differences in form or function. Experiments 2 and 3 examined infants' sensitivity to the correlation between form and function. In these two experiments, 10-, 14-, and 18-month-old infants were familiarized with two objects in which a consistent form-function relationship was maintained. Infants then were tested with a correlated object which maintained the familiar form-function relationship, an uncorrelated object which violated this relationship, and a novel object. The 10- and 14-month-old infants increased attention only to the novel object, but the 18-month-old infants increased attention to the uncorrelated object as well to the novel object. The results suggest a developmental progression from attending only to the form of objects, to attending to form and function as separate properties, and finally to attending to the relationship between form and function.