W11 - REFERENCES

Question 1

What is an agent in the context of infant cognitive development?

Answer 1

An agent is an entity capable of autonomous, goal-directed action, including humans, animals, and animated figures that move independently and act intentionally. (Woodward, 1998)

Question 2

How do infants differentiate agents from inanimate objects?

Answer 2

Infants perceive agents as entities that move on their own, act contingently, and pursue goals, unlike inanimate objects that do not act autonomously. (Woodward, 1998)

Question 3

What was the key finding of Woodward (1998) about infant goal attribution?

Answer 3

9-month-olds looked longer when a hand reached for a new goal rather than the old one in a new location, showing they interpreted the action as goal-directed. (Woodward, 1998)

Question 4

What control condition in Woodward’s study supported goal attribution only to agents?

Answer 4

When the hand was replaced with a stick, infants did not show surprise, indicating goal attribution occurs only with animate agents. (Woodward, 1998)

Question 5

What is the principle of cost-efficiency in infant action understanding?

Answer 5

Infants expect agents to take the most efficient path to achieve a goal, minimizing effort unless obstacles require detours. (Gergely et al., 1995; Csibra et al., 1999)

Question 6

What did Gergely et al. (1995) and Csibra et al. (1999) demonstrate about efficient action?

Answer 6

Infants looked longer when an agent jumped unnecessarily over a non-existent obstacle, showing surprise at inefficient goal pursuit.

Question 7

How did Liu & Spelke (2016) extend findings about cost-efficiency?

Answer 7

Infants expected agents to adjust jump height depending on obstacle size, showing nuanced understanding of efficient action.

Question 8

What behavioural cues do infants use to infer social relationships?

Answer 8

Infants use behaviours like imitation and saliva-sharing to infer closeness in social relationships. (Thomas et al., 2022)

Question 9

What were the findings of the saliva-sharing study by Thomas et al. (2022)?

Answer 9

Infants expected individuals who shared saliva to comfort each other in distress, indicating recognition of close social ties.

Question 10

What did the imitation study by Thomas et al. (2022) reveal?

Answer 10

12-month-olds preferred puppets that their parent imitated, using observed imitation to infer social relationships.

Question 11

How do infants use social inferences functionally?

Answer 11

They use inferred social closeness to guide their own social behaviour, such as choosing preferred partners. (Thomas et al., 2022)

Question 12

Why is infant knowledge of agents considered non-mentalistic?

Answer 12

It does not require understanding others’ mental states; infants interpret behaviour based on observable goals and cues. (Woodward, 1998; Csibra et al., 1999)

Question 13

What theoretical framework explains early agent understanding?

Answer 13

The non-mentalistic action interpretation system allows infants to interpret actions based on goals, efficiency, and social cues without Theory of Mind. (Gergely et al., 1995; Thomas et al., 2022)

Question 14

At what age do infants show sensitivity to goal-directed action and efficiency?

Answer 14

By 6–9 months, infants demonstrate expectations that agents act intentionally and efficiently.

Question 15

What does early social inference ability suggest about cognitive development?

Answer 15

It suggests infants have foundational social-cognitive skills to interpret actions and relationships before language or Theory of Mind fully develops. (Thomas et al., 2022)

Question 16

What is the mentalistic system of action interpretation?

Answer 16

A system that interprets and predicts behaviour by attributing mental states like beliefs and desires (Theory of Mind). (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001)

Question 17

At what age do children demonstrate false-belief understanding?

Answer 17

Around 4 years old, children consistently pass false-belief tasks, indicating developed mentalistic reasoning. (Perner et al., 1987; Wellman et al., 2001)

Question 18

What are two classic false-belief tasks?

Answer 18

The Smarties Task and the Sally-Anne Task, both assess understanding of others’ mistaken beliefs.

Question 19

What is the non-mentalistic system of action interpretation?

Answer 19

A system that interprets actions based on observable behaviour (goals and efficiency) without inferring mental states. (Gergely et al., 1995; Csibra et al., 1999)

Question 20

What are the three core concepts of the non-mentalistic system?

Answer 20

1) Concept of agent, 2) Concept of goal, 3) Principle of cost-efficiency. (Woodward, 1998; Gergely et al., 1995)

Question 21

How did Woodward (1998) demonstrate understanding of goal-directed action?

Answer 21

Infants looked longer when a hand reached for a new object rather than a new location, suggesting goal encoding.

Question 22

What control confirmed goal attribution only to agents in Woodward’s study?

Answer 22

When a stick reached for an object, infants did not show surprise, indicating specificity to agents.

Question 23

What did Csibra et al. (1999) and Gergely et al. (1995) find on action efficiency?

Answer 23

Infants expected agents to take the most efficient path and were surprised by inefficient detours without obstacles.

Question 24

How did Liu & Spelke (2016) expand on cost-efficiency?

Answer 24

They showed infants expect agents to adjust effort (e.g., jump height) based on obstacle size.

Question 25

What evidence shows infants infer social relationships from actions?

Answer 25

Thomas et al. (2022) showed infants interpret saliva sharing and imitation as cues of social closeness.

Question 26

How do infants use imitation to infer social partners?

Answer 26

Infants prefer puppets imitated by their caregivers, suggesting alignment with social relationships.

Question 27

What are the key elements of the non-mentalistic system?

Answer 27

It includes detecting agents, attributing goals, and expecting cost-efficient actions without mental state inference.

Question 28

When does the mentalistic system typically develop?

Answer 28

Around 3.5 to 4 years of age, marked by false-belief understanding.

Question 29

What are the two main systems for action interpretation?

Answer 29

The non-mentalistic system (observable cues) and the mentalistic system (inferred mental states).

Question 30

What characterises the non-mentalistic action interpretation system?

Answer 30

It relies on agency, goal-directedness, and efficiency cues without attributing beliefs or desires.

Question 31

At what age do infants interpret actions as goal-directed?

Answer 31

By 9 months, infants expect consistent goal pursuit in agents.

Question 32

What evidence supports infants’ understanding of cost-efficiency?

Answer 32

Csibra et al. (1999) and Gergely et al. (1995) showed infants expect the most efficient path to goals.

Question 33

What is Theory of Mind (ToM)?

Answer 33

The ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, understanding that they can differ.

Question 34

What milestone signals emergence of mentalistic reasoning?

Answer 34

Passing false-belief tasks around age 4 indicates children can represent others’ false beliefs.

Question 35

What supports ToM development?

Answer 35

Language, social experiences, and cognitive growth (e.g., executive function).

Question 36

Do young children show any implicit mental state understanding?

Answer 36

Some evidence suggests implicit understanding, but standard tasks may mask it due to task demands.

Question 37

Is there continuity between the two action interpretation systems?

Answer 37

Yes, the non-mentalistic system remains functional, while the mentalistic system builds on it.

Question 38

How does development reflect cognitive progress?

Answer 38

It shows a shift from behaviour-based reasoning to abstract mental state inference, marking qualitative cognitive change.

Question 39

What is meant by "action interpretation" in infancy?

Answer 39

Extracting meaning from behaviour by recognising goal-directed and efficient actions before mental state understanding.

Question 40

What system supports early action interpretation?

Answer 40

The non-mentalistic action interpretation system (agents, goals, cost-efficiency) functions in infancy.

Question 41

How do infants distinguish agents from objects?

Answer 41

They identify agents by autonomous movement, goal pursuit, and action within constraints; objects lack these. (Csibra et al., 1999)

Question 42

What study shows infants attribute goals to agents?

Answer 42

Woodward (1998)’s habituation paradigm where 9-month-olds looked longer for new-goal reaches.

Question 43

Why did infants not respond when a stick acted in Woodward’s study?

Answer 43

The stick was inanimate, so infants did not attribute goals, showing specificity to agents.