Representations of abstract relations in infancy
Schedule
Thursday, June 3, 2021
16:00 UTC
Jean-Rémy Hochmann
Dr
French National Center for Scientific Research
Host: Analogical Minds
Recording
Open recording
Event Information
Recording
Available
Host
Analogical Minds
Duration
90 minutes
Abstract
Abstract relations are considered the pinnacle of human cognition, allowing analogical and logical reasoning, and possibly setting humans apart from other animal species. Such relations cannot be represented in a perceptual code but can easily be represented in a propositional language of thought, where relations between objects are represented by abstract discrete symbols. Focusing on the abstract relations same and different, I will show that (1) there is a discontinuity along ontogeny with respect to the representations of abstract relations, but (2) young infants already possess representations of same and different. Finally, (3) I will investigate the format of representation of abstract relations in young infants, arguing that those representations are not discrete, but rather built by juxtaposing abstract representations of entities.
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