2023年度日本認知科学会第40回大会

P3-004A

Rule-teaching in Preverbal Infants:
Early Knowledge Acquisition with Gaze Contingency
凌若藍，松中玲子，開一夫
Ruolan LING, Reiko MATSUNAKA, Kazuo HIRAKI東京大学
The University of Tokyo
lingruolan@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Abstract

between instructed and self-directed learning. In thisThis study delves into the cognitive abilities ofresearch, we discuss the potential for infants to learn

preverbal infants in understanding abstract rules

and apply rules through gaze contingency and focus

and their capacity to exhibit rule-compliant behavior,on the effect of teaching guidance in infants’ rule-employing a novel experimental technique called

learning process. From the perspective of infants’gaze contingency. Within an environment wherestimuli

could

beinterpreted

through

rational learning, we hypothesized that infants could

eitherlearn rules through gaze contingency and that they

numerical or shape matching, providing explicit rule

could learn more effectively under intentional

instructions became imperative. Infants were dividedguidance.

into two distinct groups, namely Self-learning andGuided-learning, based on the way that infants

2.

gained the instruction and learned the rules.

Methods
To test the hypotheses, we first createdFurthermore, our hypothesis posited that infants

animations in which infants used their gaze to pairguided through the rule-learning process would

the cards on the screen contingently. The animations

display accelerated and improved rule acquisition,

comprised three distinct scenarios: combinations ofleading to more proficient rule-compliant behavior.

triangles and pentagons, triangles and pentagrams,

Our results suggest that preverbal infants possess

and pentagons and pentagrams (Figure1.A). In eachthe ability to grasp abstract rules and that guided

scenario, a circular card was placed in the central

teaching significantly enhances their aptitude forposition, exhibiting a hole at its lower midpoint thatcomprehending and adhering to rules effectively.

matched the dimensions of the square cards on theleft and right. Together, these three cards formed aKeywords ― Infants, Rule-teaching, Gaze contingency

1.

rudimentary puzzle, wherein participants controlled
their eyesight to manipulate either the left or right

Introduction

card and fit it into the central hole to complete thePrevious Research has shown that evenpuzzle. Two rules governed the puzzle: shape andpreverbal infants are capable of representing,quantity, and the pattern on the central circular card

extracting, and generalizing abstract algebraic rules

adhered to both rules concurrently. For instance, ifbetween stimuli (Marcus et al., 1999). And infants

the central card contained two pentagrams, the left

learn better in the presence of informative

card contained two triangles (equal number), and themultimodal cues (Frank et al., 2009). However, mostright card contained a solitary pentagram (samestudies examining this ability rely on indirectshape). Opting for the left card would adhere to themeasures such as looking time to assess infants'

quantity rule, whereas opting for the right cardlearning outcomes. While these measures have been

would adhere to the shape rule. Each participant wasshown to be reliable in many cases, they may not fully

exposed to only one rule. The 12-month-old infants

capture all aspects of infant learning, particularly

partaking in the study were neither informed of nor

when it comes to comparing learning outcomespossessed an understanding of the rules beforehand.
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P3-004A

Based on the way infants learned the rules, there
were two groups in our experiment: Self-learning andThe participants in the Guided-learning group

Guided-learning.

experienced a slight variation from the Self-directed

In the case of the Self-learning group, thegroup. During the familiarization phase, a human-familiarization phase involved conveying the concept

like hand emerged, precisely positioning the card fitof matching through the simultaneous enlargementwith the rules into the hole at the center, thereby

and illumination of patterns sharing the same shapelighting up the central circular card. This action wasor quantity. Subsequently, the side cards captivatedrepeated twice. Other aspects of the experiment

infants' attention via two cycles of expansion anddesign for the Guided-learning group remainedcontraction. Then, the screen remained still, with theentirely congruous with those of the Self-learning

side cards encased within white borders. A cue

group (Figure 1. B).

indicating attention was established, where theIn the subsequent test phase, different from theborder of the side cards transitioned from white tofamiliarization phase, there was no cue related to theyellow upon the participant looking at them. One

current rules, infants made their own choice based oncard would be selected if an infant's gaze exceeded

what they had already learned.

500 milliseconds. In the later feedback period, if theDuring the familiarization phase, the videos forchosen card aligned with the game rule, the puzzle

learning in the Guided-learning group lasted 11.4

would seamlessly integrate, accompanied by theseconds, whereas those for the Self-learning group

circular card's background lighting up. Conversely, a

had a duration of 5 seconds. And infants were allotted

selection that did not fit with the rules would prompta total of 10 seconds to make their selection,

the card to be expelled from the screen, leaving theaccompanied by a cartoon countdown chime. The

puzzle incomplete and staying gray. If participants

feedback lasted 4.2 seconds each. Each participant

refrained from making a selection, a pink circleunderwent a total of 18 trials’ experiment.

materialized in the screen's center, alluring theFamiliarization and test phases are presented

attention and preparing the infants for thealternately.

subsequent trial.

3.

Results

Figure 2 Selection results

Three 12-month-old infants participated in theexperiment and were randomly assigned to Selflearning and Guided-learning groups. In the Self-Figure 1 Experiment stimuli

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P3-004A

learning group, we found that participant 1
succeeded in 78%, and failed in 22% of 18 trials. And
participant 2 succeeded in 39%, failed in 22%, and did
not make a choice in 39% of 18 trials. In the Guidedlearning group, participant 3 succeeded in 56%, failed
in 6%, and did not make a choice in 39% of 18 trials.

4.

Discussion
In the pilot experiment, we discovered promising

results. Despite being in the Self-learning group,infants showed a tendency to select cards thataligned with the rules. Additionally, participants in
the Guided-learning group made fewer errors.
Therefore, we have reasons to believe that infants arecapable of understanding and expressing actions
fitting with the rules even before they start speaking.
In future experiments, we plan to incorporate theDimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task toinvestigate

whether

infants

canfinish

ruletransitions under the guidance of cues. In conclusion,
while it requires further experimentation to verify
our hypotheses, it is the first to propose thesignificance of abstract rule teaching for preverbal
infants, which will further illuminate the cognitive
learning of infants in their early stages.

5.

Reference[1] Frank, M. C., Slemmer, J. A., Marcus, G. F., & Johnson,
S. P. J. D. s. (2009). Information from multiple
modalities helps 5-month-olds learn abstract rules.
12(4), 504-509.
[2] Marcus, G. F., Vijayan, S., Bandi Rao, S., & Vishton, P.
M. J. S. (1999). Rule learning by seven-month-oldinfants. 283(5398), 77-80.

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