The text describes a study in which infants were shown pictures of several different horses. Then they were shown a picture of a horse and a picture of a different animal, such as a giraffe. What research technique did this study employ to determine how infants learn to categorize objects?
A) classical conditioning
B) reinforcement
C) habituation
D) punishment

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In the habituation method, researchers study infant perceptual capabilities by habituating infants to certain stimuli, and then changing the stimuli and observing the infant's response. In this study, the question was whether the infant would spend more time looking at the horse or the "new" animal to determine if the infants had formed a category of horses. If the infants had formed the horse category, the researchers reasoned that habituation would have occurred through the six previous trials; therefore, the infants' attention would be drawn to the new kind of animal.

The Text Describes a Study in Which Infants Were Shown