Sloutsky, V.
Ohio State University, USA
Inductive generalization is a critical aspect of cognition because it allows using knowledge creatively in new situations. For example, upon learning that a cat is a carnivore, one would expect other cats to be carnivores too. Although many aspects of inductive generalization are present in non-human animals and exhibit early onset in humans, mechanisms of induction in humans and its developmental course are hotly debated. To examine mechanisms of induction across development, Sloutsky and Fisher developed the Induction-then-Recognition (ITR) task (Fisher & Sloutsky, 2005; Sloutsky & Fisher, 2004a, 2004b). Using ITR, Sloutsky and Fisher have argued that inductive inference undergoes a radical developmental transformation. According to this view young children base their induction on computation of perceptual similarity (if one cat is a carnivore, another cat should also be a carnivore because both cats look alike). In contrast adults, base their induction on determining if the two items belong to the same category (if one cat is a carnivore, another cat should also be a carnivore because both are members of the category ‘cat”). Some participants of the present symposium have challenged these conclusions. In particular, Hayes, McKinnon, & Sweller (2008) and Wilburn & Feeney (2008) presented arguments suggesting that developmental differences between early and mature induction could be rather modest, with both groups basing their induction on the common category. They further argued that ITR might have revealed developmental differences in visual attention rather than in induction. In this talk, I will present an overview of published research using ITR. I will then present new experiments in which 5- to 6-year-olds and adults performed ITR task, while their patterns of eye movements were recorded by an eye tracker. The patterns of eye movements support the idea of different mechanisms of induction in children and adults. At the same time, these findings are difficult to explain only by the development of visual attention.