Category generalization in a new context: The role of visual attention

Infants and children have difficulty categorizing objects in new contexts. However, learning in both same and varied contexts can help young word learners overcome contextual learning difficulties. We examined the relation between infants' visual attention to the category member and background context during learning and their ability to generalize a new category member in a new context. Of particular interest is how this relation is affected by learning in various contextual conditions. Infants (16-20 months; n = 48) were presented with eight novel noun categories in one of three contextual conditions (same context, varied context, or a combination of same and varied contexts), and tested for their generalization ability in a new context. Context was defined as the colored and patterned fabric upon which the object was presented. Results suggest that visual attention during learning is associated with category generalization ability in a new context only for infants whose learning took place in a combination of same and varied background contexts. The results are discussed in terms of the mechanisms by which context affects generalization.