Infant categorization of left‐right spatial relations

Abstract

The ability of 3‐ to 4‐month‐old infants to categorize left‐right spatial relations was investigated in two experiments employing the paired‐preference procedure. In Expt 1, infants were familiarized with different pictures of horse‐zebra pairs that varied in size, orientation and location on the stimulus card, but maintained the same left‐right relation between the animals. They were then tested with two novel stimuli, each showing a new horse‐zebra pair in a new size and location, with the familiar left‐right relation between the animals maintained in one pair and reversed in the other. A visual preference for the latter was observed. Expt 2 demonstrated that infants were able to distinguish the familiarization exemplars both from one another and from the test‐phase stimuli with the familiar spatial relation between the animals. These data thus supported the view that infants in Expt 1 extracted and categorized the left‐right relations between the animals seen during familiarization. The ability of infants to represent left‐right spatial relations is discussed in terms of the development of spatial knowledge.