Graham, SusanSwitzer, Jessica2015-07-272015-11-202015-07-272015Switzer, J. (2015). A Bat is Not a Bird: Infants’ Use of Distinct Labels to Guide Inductive Reasoning (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/24630http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2367This study examined infants’ use of distinct labels to guide inductive reasoning. Sixty-five 14- to 16-month-olds were presented with target objects that possessed a non-obvious sound property, followed by test objects that varied in shape similarity (inductive inference task). Infants were also administered a working memory and an inhibition task, and parents completed a vocabulary questionnaire. Results revealed that when objects were not labeled, infants generalized the property to the high- similarity objects only. When the target and test objects were labeled with distinct labels, infants 15-months and older inhibited their generalization of the property to the high- and low- similarity objects. Performance on the inductive inference task was related to age, but not to working memory, inhibition or vocabulary. Our findings suggest that infants 15-months and older use distinct labels to carve out distinct categories, even when objects are highly perceptually similar.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Psychology--CognitivePsychology--DevelopmentalEarly Inductive ReasoningExecutive Functioningmaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/24630