Means-End Behavior in Young Infants: The Interplay of Action Perception and Action Production

Autor/inn/en	Daum, Moritz M.; Prinz, Wolfgang; Aschersleben, Gisa
Titel	Means-End Behavior in Young Infants: The Interplay of Action Perception and Action Production
Quelle	In: Infancy, 14 (2009) 6, S.613-640 (28 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1525-0008
Schlagwörter	Infants; Toys; Visual Stimuli; Reinforcement; Child Development; Comprehension; Visual Discrimination; Infant Behavior; Intention + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Toy; Spielzeug; Positive Verstärkung; Kindesentwicklung; Verstehen; Verständnis
Abstract	In 2 experiments, the interplay of action perception and action production was investigated in 6-month-old infants. In Experiment 1, infants received 2 versions of a means-end task in counterbalanced order. In the action perception version, a preferential looking paradigm in which infants were shown an actor performing means-end behavior with an expected and an unexpected outcome was used. In the action production version, infants had to pull a cloth to receive a toy. In Experiment 2, infants' ability to perform the action production task with a cloth was compared to their ability to perform the action production task with a less flexible board. Finally, Experiment 3 was designed to control for alternative low-level explanations of the differences in the looking times toward the final states presented in Experiment 1 by only presenting the final states of the action perception task without showing the initial action sequence. Results obtained in Experiment 1 showed that in the action perception task, infants discriminated between the expected and the unexpected outcome. This perceptual ability was independent of their actual competence in executing means- end behavior in the action production task. Experiment 2 showed no difference in 6-month-olds' performance in the action production task depending on the properties of the support under the toy. Similarly, in Experiment 3, no differences in looking times between the 2 final states were found. The findings are discussed in light of theories on the development of action perception and action production. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 1 footnote.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Psychology Press. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10