Beyond the Shape of Things: Infants Can Be Taught to Generalize Nouns by Objects’ Functions
研究训练17个月大的婴儿关注物体功能来学习名词，发现婴儿能形成功能偏好，表明形状偏好源于感知易得性而非概念复杂性。
), whereas adults do so by the objects' function. Is this because shape is conceptually easier to comprehend than function? To test whether the conceptual complexity of function prevents infants from developing a function bias, we trained twelve 17-month-olds (function-training group) to focus on objects' functions when labeling the objects over a period of 7 weeks. Our training was similar to previously used methods in which 17-month-olds were successfully taught to focus on the shape of objects, resulting in a precocious shape bias. We exposed another 12 infants (control group) to the same objects over 7 weeks but without labeling the items or demonstrating their functions. Only the infants in the function-training group developed a function bias. Thus, the conceptual complexity of function was not a barrier for developing a function bias, which suggests that the shape bias emerges naturally because shape is perceptually more accessible than function.