Biomedical subjects

Yuko Munakata

Publications and source records attributed to Yuko Munakata.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Reasoning about a hidden object after a delay: evidence for robust representations in 5-month-old infants.

The present research examined two alternative interpretations of violation-of-expectation findings that young infants can represent hidden objects. One interpretation is that, when watching an event in which an object becomes hidden behind another object, infants form a prediction about the event's outcome while both objects are still visible, and then check whether this prediction was accurate. The other interpretation is that infants' initial representations of hidden objects are weak and short-lived and as such sufficient for success in most violation-of-expectation tasks (as objects are typically hidden for only a few seconds at a time), but not more challenging tasks. Five-month-old infants succeeded in reasoning about the interaction of a visible and a hidden object even though (1) the two objects were never simultaneously visible, and (2) a 3- or 4-min delay preceded the test trials. These results provide evidence for robust representations of hidden objects in young infants.

Child Development↗

PubMed2002

Converging methods in developmental science: an introduction.

This special issue of Developmental Psychobiology reflects a number of recent advances in the field of developmental neuroscience. The most evident are methodological advances in noninvasive neuroimaging such as those described in a parallel special issue of Developmental Science, Volume 5, 2002. While advances in imaging methods offer a new era in developmental research, other methods (e.g., animal, computational, lesion, and genetic) remain essential in constraining and informing theories of brain and behavioral development. The papers in this issue highlight the importance of a converging methods approach to the study of developmental science and illustrate how a variety of available tools allow insights into both new and classic developmental questions.

Developmental Biology↗

PubMed2002

Active versus latent representations: a neural network model of perseveration, dissociation, and decalage.

Children of different ages often perseverate, repeating previous behaviors when they are no longer appropriate, despite appearing to know what they should be doing. Using neural network models, we explore an account of these phenomena based on a distinction between active memory (subserved by the prefrontal cortex) and latent memory (subserved by posterior cortex). The models demonstrate how (a) perseveration occurs when an active memory of currently relevant knowledge is insufficiently strong to overcome a latent bias established by previous experience, (b) apparent dissociations between children's knowledge and action may reflect differences in the amount of conflict between active and latent memories that children need to resolve in the tasks, and (c) differences in when children master formally similar tasks (decalage) may result from differences in the strength of children's initial biases. The models help to clarify how prefrontal development may lead to advances in flexible thinking.

Child↗

PubMed2002

Rich interpretation vs. deflationary accounts in cognitive development: the case of means-end skills in 7-month-old infants.

Seven-month-old infants appear to learn means-end skills, such as pushing a button to retrieve a distant toy (Psychological Review 104 (1997) 686). The present studies tested whether such apparent means-end behaviors are genuine, or simply the repetition of trained behaviors under conditions of greatest arousal, as suggested by a dynamic systems reinterpretation. When infants were trained to repeat behaviors that did not serve as means to retrieving toys (pushing a button to light a set of distant lights), their button-pushing differed significantly from infants for whom button-pushing served as a means for retrieving toys. Further, infants demonstrated means-end skills with behaviors that they had not been trained to repeat. Implications for early means-end abilities and for debates surrounding the interpretation of infant behavior are discussed.

Age Factors↗