Ruolan LING
(Department of General Systems Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Reiko MATSUNAKA
(Department of General Systems Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Kazuo HIRAKI
(Department of General Systems Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
This study delves into the cognitive abilities of preverbal infants in understanding abstract rules and their capacity to exhibit rule-compliant behavior, employing a novel experimental technique called gaze contingency. Within an environment where stimuli could be interpreted through either numerical or shape matching, providing explicit rule instructions became imperative. Infants were divided into two distinct groups, namely Self-learning and Guided-learning, based on the way that infants gained the instruction and learned the rules. Our results suggest that preverbal infants possess the ability to grasp abstract rules and that guided teaching significantly enhances their aptitude for comprehending and adhering to rules effectively.
