2000 — 2005 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
The Development of Thinking: Inductive Inference in Young Children
Generalization from known to the unknown, or inductive inference, is an important component of human thinking. For example, if one learned that robins have hollow bones, would she think that eagles also have hollow bones? Is it reasonable to infer that bats have hollow bones too? Which attributes of robins and eagles are important for inferring that eagles do (or do not) have hollow bones? Do these attributes differ in their importance? And how do children learn which attributes are most predictive for inferring biological properties? Our prior research indicated that young children induce biological properties based on the overall similarity between compared entities, whereas preadolescents rely on a single most predictive source of information, such as biological kind or inheritance information.
In this project, we will examine how young children combine different sources of information when inferring biological properties, and how they acquire the ability to rely on a single most predictive source of information. Specifically, we will estimate the importance of different sources of information across different age levels. We will also examine the transition from young children's induction (based primarily on overall similarity) to preadolescents' induction (based primarily on most predictive attributes). Finally, we will examine changes in inductive inference as a function of learning. In the course of the project, children and preadolescents (3-4-, 5-6-, 7-8- and 11-12 year olds) will participate in inductive inference and learning studies. The former will consist of a single session where participants will solve induction problems, whereas the latter will consist of 6 learning sessions spaced over a two-week period. At each session participants will be presented with induction problems and provided with feedback as to whether or not their inference is correct. The goal of these learning studies is to establish how children develop understanding of which attributes are most predictive for inferring biological properties.
The project will contribute to our understanding of the development of human thinking, particularly of inductive inference and concept formation. In addition, the project may have important implications for the instructional theory and for learning and teaching science because it will specify how children think when they do not have knowledge of most predictive attributes, and how knowledge of these attributes changes their thinking.
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0.915 |
2009 — 2010 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir M |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Cross-Modal Processing and Lexical Development
In many situations people have to process simultaneously presented auditory and visual information, and this ability is especially important for lexical development where auditorily presented words often co-occur with visually presented objects and scenes. We argue that processing of cross-modal input depends on two critical parameters: (a) the speed of orienting to a modality relative to the competing modality and (b) the dwell time of attention. We also argue that both parameters undergo developmental change, which results in faster and more efficient processing of cross-modal input. Based on these ideas, we propose a project that (a) estimates the critical parameters of auditory-visual processing (Study 1) and (b) uses these parameters to understand the ability to extract the structure from visual input, such as category learning or learning of correlations (Study 2). The major innovation of the proposed research is the theoretical proposal linking some important aspects of cognitive development to more basic mechanism(s) underlying cross-modal processing. The proposed project has two specific aims. Specific aim 1 is to determine how auditory input affects attention allocated to corresponding visual input and to develop a modality-independent measure capable of examining auditory, visual and cross-modal processing. Specific aim 2 is to directly test the ability of attentional mechanisms underlying crossmodal processing to account for effects of auditory input on the ability to extract statistical structure from visual input. The experiments will be guided by our hypothesis that the attentional mechanism underlying cross-modal processing can account for performance on higher-order cognitive tasks, which require processing of visual structure such as word learning, category learning and learning of multiple contingencies. Each study will include multiple experiments with 8-, 12- and 16-monthold infants and will include a variety of methodologies. The proposed research is important because it will generate new knowledge affecting our understanding of the development of attention and its role in cross-modal processing, thus revealing some basic mechanisms of early lexical and cognitive development. This knowledge may also have broader impact on the clinical community by elucidating factors underlying Specific Language Impairments (SLI).
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1 |
2013 — 2017 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
The Role of Language in Infant Category Learning
One of the central issues in the study of cognition and its development concerns the impact of language on cognition and the nature of such effects. A variety of effects have been proposed ranging from facilitation of learning and memory to changing the ways we perceive and interpret events. In addition, the spoken word may affect the very core of human intelligence--the ability to generalize and take knowledge from known to novel situations, including the ability of infants and young children to learn general categories and use this knowledge for future learning. Despite the central importance of the problem, much remains unknown. Most importantly, it is not known how language affects the developing cognition and how these effects change in the course of development. Do words function as teaching signals for the developing cognition from early in development? Or do they become teaching signals as a result of development? The primary goal of this 3-year-long project is to answer these questions by using a combination of behavior experimentation and eye tracking analyses, with computational modeling and model selection. In the initial study, multiple category learning experiments with 8-to-24-month-olds will be conducted, in which words or other sounds will accompany categories of different structure. In a second study, two classes of computational models will be used to simulate the data, one, in which words are considered part of the input, and another in which words are considered a teaching signal. Formal model selection procedures will help determine which mechanism underlying the effects of words is more consistent with the entire body of data.
Results of this research will advance our understanding of how language affects cognition early in development, thus contributing to better understanding of typical cognitive development. The proposed research will also contribute to the methodological toolkit of developmental research. The investigator will disseminate the work via conference presentations and journal articles. The researchers will also undertake outreach and education activities with children and teachers, involving high school students and lab activities, and an exposition for children at the Columbus Museum of Science and Industry.
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0.915 |
2014 — 2021 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir M |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
The Development of Categorization
Project Summary The proposed project is designed to advance our understanding of the development of category learning ? a fundamental component of human intelligence. The proposed research is based on the hypothesis of multiple mechanisms sub-serving category learning: (a) an early developing mechanism (Mechanism1) is based on distributed attention and learning of within-category statistics and (b) later developing mechanism (Mechanism2) is based on selective attention to category-relevant information. Under Mechanism1, both relevant and less relevant dimensions are encoded, with learned representations being similar to the input stimulus structure (i.e., no learning-based representational change). Under Mechanism2, learned representations are different from input stimulus structure (we refer to this difference as learning-based representational change). Differences between Mechanism1 and Mechanism2 will transpire in many performance indicators, including attention allocation during learning, memory for features, shapes of learning curves, and accuracy and response times during training and testing. To test these hypotheses, we will conduct a series of experiments with 4-9-year-old children, and adults. The proposed project has the following Specific Aims. Specific Aim 1 is to conduct cross-sectional experiments and a longitudinal study examining mechanisms of category learning across development. Mechanism1 and Mechanism2 predict qualitatively different patterns of (1) attention allocation, categorization, and memory and (2) pre- and post-learning representations of categories. Specific Aim 2 is to apply computational models to data collected within Study 1 to identify the differences between the two hypothesized mechanisms of category learning. To achieve this goal, eye gaze and categorization and memory choice and response time data will be submitted to a suite of models capturing the hypothesized mechanisms. The proposed project will advance our understanding of links among critical aspects of typical cognitive development ? selective attention, category learning, and memory.
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1 |
2016 — 2020 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir M |
P01Activity Code Description: For the support of a broadly based, multidisciplinary, often long-term research program which has a specific major objective or a basic theme. A program project generally involves the organized efforts of relatively large groups, members of which are conducting research projects designed to elucidate the various aspects or components of this objective. Each research project is usually under the leadership of an established investigator. The grant can provide support for certain basic resources used by these groups in the program, including clinical components, the sharing of which facilitates the total research effort. A program project is directed toward a range of problems having a central research focus, in contrast to the usually narrower thrust of the traditional research project. Each project supported through this mechanism should contribute or be directly related to the common theme of the total research effort. These scientifically meritorious projects should demonstrate an essential element of unity and interdependence, i.e., a system of research activities and projects directed toward a well-defined research program goal. |
Administrative Core Unit
Abstract The goals of the Administrative Core Unit are: (1) to provide administrative support for individual project, (2) to enable seamless communication among the sites, and (3) to support administration and decision making for the entire P01 project. The proposed administrative infrastructure will be able to achieve these goals and to support the proposed P01 project. .
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1 |
2016 — 2020 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir M |
P01Activity Code Description: For the support of a broadly based, multidisciplinary, often long-term research program which has a specific major objective or a basic theme. A program project generally involves the organized efforts of relatively large groups, members of which are conducting research projects designed to elucidate the various aspects or components of this objective. Each research project is usually under the leadership of an established investigator. The grant can provide support for certain basic resources used by these groups in the program, including clinical components, the sharing of which facilitates the total research effort. A program project is directed toward a range of problems having a central research focus, in contrast to the usually narrower thrust of the traditional research project. Each project supported through this mechanism should contribute or be directly related to the common theme of the total research effort. These scientifically meritorious projects should demonstrate an essential element of unity and interdependence, i.e., a system of research activities and projects directed toward a well-defined research program goal. |
Data Core Unit
Abstract The proposed Data Core Unit will focus on data sharing across the projects and on sharing data analyses, statistical, and model selection services. The Data Core Unit serves three critical support functions in facilitating data sharing and communication among the sites. These functions are: (1) supporting sharing of data and ideas, (2) facilitation of inter-site discussions, and (3) supporting data analyses and computational modeling. The proposed structure of the Data Core Unit is capable of serving these functions.
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1 |
2016 — 2020 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir M |
P01Activity Code Description: For the support of a broadly based, multidisciplinary, often long-term research program which has a specific major objective or a basic theme. A program project generally involves the organized efforts of relatively large groups, members of which are conducting research projects designed to elucidate the various aspects or components of this objective. Each research project is usually under the leadership of an established investigator. The grant can provide support for certain basic resources used by these groups in the program, including clinical components, the sharing of which facilitates the total research effort. A program project is directed toward a range of problems having a central research focus, in contrast to the usually narrower thrust of the traditional research project. Each project supported through this mechanism should contribute or be directly related to the common theme of the total research effort. These scientifically meritorious projects should demonstrate an essential element of unity and interdependence, i.e., a system of research activities and projects directed toward a well-defined research program goal. |
Development and Neurobiology of Categorization
? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed P01 project is designed to advance our understanding of the developmental, neural, evolutionary, and cognitive mechanisms of categorization. The proposed research will be guided by a set of general hypotheses. First, categorization is mediated by multiple interacting systems. Second, these systems may become fully functional at different points of development. And third, the degree of involvement of each system is determined by: (a) its functional maturity, (b) the structure of the stimulus input, and (c) the way training is administered. The P01 as a whole has 4 specific aims: (1) to elucidate the ontogenetic and phylogenetic changes in categorization; (2) to link brain development with the development of categorization in humans; (3) to develop and test animal models of category learning; and (4) to use animal models for examining the neurobiology of categorization. These aims will be addressed three individual projects: (1) Individual Project 1 aims at elucidating the development of categorization and at linking it to the developing brain, (2) Individual Project 2 aims at developing, testing, and using animal models examining the neurobiology of categorization, and (3) Individual Project 3 aims at developing computational models of interacting systems of category learning and to empirically test these models. Although methodological details may and will differ across species (i.e., pigeons, rats, and humans) and across human populations (i.e., infants, children, and adults), individual projects will use the same set of tasks and the same set of secondary dependent variables (e.g., learning curves, costs, savings, etc.) that will enable direct comparisons among the different subject populations. Therefore, each individual project will contribute to the same goal: better understanding of the developmental, neural, evolutionary and cognitive mechanisms of a critically important human intellectual ability. There will be two Core Units. The Administrative Core Unit will enable seamless communication across the individual sites and the overall integrative activities. The Data Core Unit will enable data sharing, statistical analyses, and model selection services across the individual projects.
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1 |
2016 — 2020 |
Sloutsky, Vladimir M |
P01Activity Code Description: For the support of a broadly based, multidisciplinary, often long-term research program which has a specific major objective or a basic theme. A program project generally involves the organized efforts of relatively large groups, members of which are conducting research projects designed to elucidate the various aspects or components of this objective. Each research project is usually under the leadership of an established investigator. The grant can provide support for certain basic resources used by these groups in the program, including clinical components, the sharing of which facilitates the total research effort. A program project is directed toward a range of problems having a central research focus, in contrast to the usually narrower thrust of the traditional research project. Each project supported through this mechanism should contribute or be directly related to the common theme of the total research effort. These scientifically meritorious projects should demonstrate an essential element of unity and interdependence, i.e., a system of research activities and projects directed toward a well-defined research program goal. |
Ontogenesis of Categorization: Linking Development, Mechanisms, and Biology
PROJECT SUMMARY This proposal is a component of a P01 program project focusing on the developmental, cognitive, and neural mechanisms of categorization. The P01 as a whole has 4 goals: (1) elucidate ontogenetic and phylogenetic changes in categorization, (2) to link brain development with the development of categorization in humans, (3) to develop and test animal models of category learning, and (4) to use animal models for examining the neurobiology of categorization. These goals will be addressed in three individual projects: (1) Individual Project 1 aims to link the is to link the development and the neurobiology of category learning, (2) Individual Project 2 aims to develop and test animal models of human categorization and category learning, and (3) Individual Project 3 aims to develop and test computational models of interacting systems of category learning. The present project (Individual Project 1) is designed to contribute to goals 1-2 of the P01 program project. Individual Project 1 has the following specific aims: (1) to examine the mechanisms of category learning across development, (2) to conduct a longitudinal investigation of category learning, and (3) to link the development and the neurobiology of category learning. These specific aims will be addressed in two studies with 6-, 8- , and 10-month-old infants, (2) 3- to 4-and 5- to 6-year-old children, and adults. In addition to multiple experiments, we will collect behavioral and biological markers of prefrontal and hippocampal functioning and link these markers to the mechanisms and development of categorization. The behavioral markers will include executive function tasks (these are considered markers of prefrontal functioning) and flexible memory tasks (these are considered markers of hippocampal functioning). The biological markers will include genetic information related to polymorphisms of COMT, DRD4, and BDNF genes, with the former two being markers of prefrontal functioning and the latter one being a marker of the hippocampal functioning. We will use the marker information to predict individual task performance and individual developmental trajectories. The proposed research is based on the general hypothesis of multiple systems of category learning: an evolutionarily primitive system (or systems) based on projections from modality-specific cortices to the striatum plus a more evolutionarily recent system (or systems) involving, in addition to the striatum, cortical areas of the medial-temporal lobe (MTL) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). We also hypothesize that the engagement of each system is determined by (1) the structure of a to-be-learned category, (2) the amount of guidance provided to the learner in a course of learning, and (3) the maturational time-course of each of the systems.
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