The Influence of Labels, Non‐Labeling Sounds, and Source of Auditory Input on 9‐ and 15‐Month‐Olds' Object Categorization

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Abstract
This experiment examines the joint influence of auditory and social cues on infants' basic-level and global categorization. Nine- and fifteen-month-olds were familiarized to a series of category exemplars in an object-examining task. Objects were introduced with a labeling phrase, a non-labeling sound, or no sound, and auditory input was presented orally by the experimenter or played on a hidden voice recorder. Novel objects from the familiarized category and a contrasting category were then presented. Results of analyses performed on novelty preference scores indicated that infants demonstrated basic-level categorization in all conditions. However, infants at both age levels only demonstrated global categorization when labeling phrases were introduced. In addition, labels led to global categorization in 9-month-olds regardless of the source of those labels; however, labels only led to global categorization in 15-month-olds when the labels were presented orally by the experimenter.