DYNAMIC MENTAL REPRESENTATION IN INFANCY

Recent research indicates that 4- to 8-month-old infants can track and anticipate the final orientation of an object following different inv isible spatial transformations (Rochat, P., Hespos, S.J. (1996). Cogni tive Development, 11, 3-17). Six experiments were designed to specify further the nature and development of early expectation for a set of d ynamic events. A violation of expectation method was used to assess in fants' reactions to probable and improbable outcomes of an objects' or ientation following an invisible transformation. The availability of o rientation cues, the path of motion, and the amount of invisible spati al transformation was systematically varied. The studies indicate that infants as young as 4 months of age detect orientation-specific cues for objects undergoing invisible spatial transformations. Developmenta l differences in this ability between 4 and 6 months of age lend insig ht to the nature and limitations of this early representational abilit y. These findings provide evidence for dynamic mental representation i n infancy. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B,V.