Plain or decorated? Object visual features matter in infant spatial categorization

• Tested infant support categorization across differences in object visual features.
• Infants of 8 months and those of 14 months participated.
• Infants, particularly those of 8 months, formed a support category with decorated but not plain objects.
• Perceptual features of objects matter in infant spatial categorization.
• Eight-month-old infants can form a support category in ideal learning settings.

The current study investigated infant spatial categorization of a support relation across differences in the perceptual features of the objects. Infants of 8 and 14 months (N = 67) were habituated to dynamic support events with objects that were plain and monochromatic or those that were embellished with decorations (e.g., polka dots, feathers). Infants were then tested with events that presented a novel pair of objects, a novel spatial relation (i.e., containment), or both. Infants, particularly those of 8 months, formed an abstract categorical representation of a support relation when habituated with the decorated objects but not the plain objects. The results suggest that the perceptual features of objects can facilitate infants’ categorization of spatial relations, at least in some learning settings and especially with younger infants.