The role of actions in making inferences about the shape and material of solid objects among Japanese 2 year-old children

This study examined whether 2 year-old children attend to the relevant properties (shape or material) of solid objects in making inferences when adults demonstrate appropriate actions. In Experiment 1, the experimenter presented 24 Japanese 2 year-olds a nonsense label with an unfamiliar target solid object that was either rigid (e.g., steel) or flexible (e.g., sponge). The experimenter performed an action on the object that emphasized the shape (e.g., rolling) or the material (e.g., squeezing) of these targets. The experimenter then asked these children, given the same label, to choose an object that matched the target in shape or in material. In Experiment 2, the experimenter asked thirty-two Japanese 2 year-olds to choose an object with and without nonsense labels. The results showed that the children used action information to make their choices regardless of the presence of labels. As hypothesized, an adultsʹs action information alone can direct children to attend to relevant object properties in making inferences about solid objects.