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# Categorization in infancy

## Details

**Authors** Mareschal and Quinn

**Year** 2001

**Publisher** Trends in Cognitive Sciences

**Discipline** Cognitive Science

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01652-6) 
10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01652-6

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

Looked at the process of categorization, especially in infancy.

### What they found (results)

The results showed that “studies not requiring a familiarization phase find that infants separate entities according to broad, global category distinctions.” While studies that did have a familiarization phase showed that, “infants can sort entities into global categories, but they can also form more finely tuned basic-level categories, and in some instances are even sensitive to the exemplar-specific characteristics of the individual instances presented during familiarization.”

## Commentary

### In short

Their research demonstrated that the Distinction making process begins early in life, and leads one to see that Distinction making is also an essential part of categorization. This indicates that in order to perform a task as simple as interacting with objects, both the D and S patterns of mind are present and could lead one to infer that these are fundamental processes in human thinking due to their early appearance in life.

### In more detail

The process of categorization (forming distinctions between types of objects), begins at around 3 months of age, and improves as the infants grew according to Mareschal and Quinn, 2001. They completed

5 studies with infants between 3 and 30 months of age on their ability to categorize. This was measured in five ways, from visual preference, object-examination, leg-kicking, generalized imitation, and sequential touching. The visual preference experiments were tested via a portable apparatus that provided a viewing chamber with a grey stage that contains two compartments, used to display two stimuli simultaneously to the infant.

The object examination experiments were conducted in two phases, familiarization and testing. In the familiarization phase, infants sat in a highchair and were given objects in a random order to simply gain some understanding of the objects prior to testing. The testing phase involved three trials of the presentation of: a novel instance from a familiar category, a novel instance from a novel category, and a completely novel stimulus.

There were three types of tests performed - the one that is of greatest interest is the sequential touching test. During the sequential touching experiments, infants were seated in highchairs and eight objects were randomly placed on the high chair table. The infant is allowed and able to independently manipulate the objects for several minutes. The order in which the infants manipulate the objects is observed and recorded. The results showed that “studies not requiring a familiarization phase find that infants separate entities according to broad, global category distinctions.” While studies that did have a familiarization phase showed that, “infants can sort entities into global categories, but they can also form more finely tuned basic-level categories, and in some instances are even sensitive to the exemplar-specific characteristics of the individual instances presented during familiarization.” Their research demonstrated that the Distinction making process begins early in life, and leads one to see that Distinction making is also an essential part of categorization. This indicates that in order to perform a task as simple as interacting with objects, both the D and S patterns of mind are present and could lead one to infer that these are fundamental processes in human thinking due to their early appearance in life.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R, P

**How to cite this** Mareschal and Quinn (2001). Categorization in infancy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.