Dynamic effects of habituation and novelty detection on newborn event related potentials

Newborns habituate to repeated auditory stimuli, and discriminate syllables, generating opportunities for early language learning. This study investigated trial-by-trial changes in newborn electrophysiological responses to auditory speech syllables as an index of habituation and novelty detection. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 16 term newborn infants, aged 1–3 days, in response to monosyllabic speech syllables presented during habituation and novelty detection tasks. Multilevel models demonstrated that newborns habituated to repeated auditory syllables, as ERP amplitude attenuated for a late-latency component over successive trials. Subsequently, during the novelty detection task, earlyand late-latency component amplitudes decreased over successive trials for novel syllables only, indicating encoding of the novel speech syllable. We conclude that newborns dynamically encoded novel syllables over relatively short time periods, as indicated by a systematic change in response patterns with increased exposure. These implications for understanding early precursors of learning and memory in newborns

Habituation and the dyanmic encoding of novelty in newborn infants: An ERP study

Full-term neonates are capable of discriminating speech sounds and habituating to repeated auditory stimuli as soon as they are born. Differences in the electrophysiological waveform of neonates’ response is interpreted as an index of their ability to discriminate speech sounds. In addition, the decrement in response amplitude to a repeated stimulus reflects habituation. However, little research examines the relationship of these measures to each other in early infancy. Event-related potential (ERPs) were recorded from 35 full-term neonates in response to two different test paradigms, consonant discrimination and habituation/novelty detection. In response to the consonant discrimination task, neonates significantly discriminated natural speech sounds with /b/-/g/ and /b/-/d/ contrasts. For the habituation task, trial-by-trial analysis demonstrated that neonates habituate to a repeated sound quickly, showing amplitude attenuation over the first ten experimental trials. At the introduction of a novel stimulus, neonatal electrophysiological response amplitude recovered, demonstrating novelty detection. Individual differences in the electrophysiological response to these two paradigms were compared to assess the relationship between speech sound discrimination and habituation/novelty detection in the first few days of life. Habituation speed, speech sound discrimination, and response variability were estimated for each individual. A set of multilevel models indicated that each of these between-subjects predictors helped to describe the electrophysiological response to the novelty detection task. A model that includes all of these measures as predictors best characterized full-term neonatal electrophysiological responses. In addition, relationships between individual differences in speech sound discrimination, habituation, novelty detection, and response variability were described. Results indicated that some individual differences in the electrophysiological response map onto a general index of neonatal health / maturity. This research sheds light on the etiology of neonatal neurocognition and provides support for the validity of neonatal ERPs as predictive indicators of later development

Habituation and the dyanmic encoding of novelty in newborn infants: An ERP study

Full-term neonates are capable of discriminating speech sounds and habituating to repeated auditory stimuli as soon as they are born. Differences in the electrophysiological waveform of neonates’ response is interpreted as an index of their ability to discriminate speech sounds. In addition, the decrement in response amplitude to a repeated stimulus reflects habituation. However, little research examines the relationship of these measures to each other in early infancy. Event-related potential (ERPs) were recorded from 35 full-term neonates in response to two different test paradigms, consonant discrimination and habituation/novelty detection. In response to the consonant discrimination task, neonates significantly discriminated natural speech sounds with /b/-/g/ and /b/-/d/ contrasts. For the habituation task, trial-by-trial analysis demonstrated that neonates habituate to a repeated sound quickly, showing amplitude attenuation over the first ten experimental trials. At the introduction of a novel stimulus, neonatal electrophysiological response amplitude recovered, demonstrating novelty detection. Individual differences in the electrophysiological response to these two paradigms were compared to assess the relationship between speech sound discrimination and habituation/novelty detection in the first few days of life. Habituation speed, speech sound discrimination, and response variability were estimated for each individual. A set of multilevel models indicated that each of these between-subjects predictors helped to describe the electrophysiological response to the novelty detection task. A model that includes all of these measures as predictors best characterized full-term neonatal electrophysiological responses. In addition, relationships between individual differences in speech sound discrimination, habituation, novelty detection, and response variability were described. Results indicated that some individual differences in the electrophysiological response map onto a general index of neonatal health / maturity. This research sheds light on the etiology of neonatal neurocognition and provides support for the validity of neonatal ERPs as predictive indicators of later development

Young children’s copying of block constructions: Significant constraints in a highly complex task

Block construction is ubiquitous in early development, yet is surprisingly complex, involving step-by-step sequenced actions to create specific structures. Here, we use novel analytic methods to characterize these action sequences in detail, including which individual parts of the structure (‘states’) are built with each action, and how these partial structures are combined to create a fully specified build path ending with the final target structure. We find that, like adults, 4- to 8-year-olds build by creating a small subset of possible individual states and full build paths, and that children prioritize building layer-by-layer from the bottom up. The individual states and build paths that children produce are strikingly similar to those of adults, and result in structures that are more stable than other possible (but not attested) configurations and paths. Our approach to analyzing block building serves as a lens into the complex cognitive processes underlying this widespread activity and suggest that children’s step-by-step building of block structures is guided by significant cognitive constraints

Characterizing spatial construction processes:Toward computational tools to understand cognition

Spatial construction—creating or copying spatialarrangements—is a hallmark of human spatial cognition.Spatial construction appears early in development, predictslater spatial and mathematical skills, and is used throughoutlife. Despite its importance, we know little about the cognitiveprocesses underlying skilled construction. Construction tasksare highly complex but analyses have tended to focus onbroad-stroke measures of end-goal accuracy. In this paper weintroduce a novel behavioral coding formalism to characterizean individual’s entire construction process, examine manyindividuals’ processes in aggregate, and summarize patternsthat emerge. The results show high consistency at certainpoints occurring throughout the construction, but also indicateflexibility in the interim paths that lead to and diverge fromthese points. Our approach offers a new method that can moreprecisely describe the behavioral patterns observed duringconstruction in order to reveal the underlying cognitiveprocesses engaged, and capture individual differences inbuilding expertise

Constraints and Development in Children's Block Construction

Block construction tasks are highly complex, yet even young children engage in these tasks in both informal and formal learning settings. In this paper, we ask whether the specific paths through which children build a structure are unique to the individual, or alternatively, constrained by similar principles across individuals and over age. Our results show that although children between 4 and 8 make frequent errors in copying model constructions, there is a striking amount of consistency in specific attributes of their paths of construction, and this consistency mirrors that of adults. The build paths suggest that although children sometimes build inefficiently, they tend to build layer-by-layer, consistent with a role for intuitive physics that enables the creation of stable structures