About our Research
Research in the Infant Cognitive Development Lab is centered on cognitive abilities in infants that are related to attention and memory.
Object Individuation
Most of our research investigates object individuation in
infancy. Object individuation is the ability to determine whether
an object is the same or a different object than one that was seen
previously. To individuate an object , an infant must attend to
various types of visual information and use this information to
make a "same/different object" distinction. Our research is focused
on learning how infants begin to identify new forms of information
as important and how development in multiple areas contribute to
the emergence of this basic cognitive ability.
If you are interested in seeing the types of toys we use in our
studies, you can view them here. (links to stimuli)
Select Publications
Alexander, G. M., Wilcox, T., & Woods, R. (in press). Sex
differences in infants' visual interest in toys. Archives of Sexual
Behavior.
Wilcox, T., Bortfeld, H., Woods, R., Wruck, E., Armstrong, J.,
& Boas, D. (in press). Hemodynamic changes in the infant cortex
during the processing of featural and spatiotemporal information.
Neuropsychologia.
Wilcox, T., & Woods, R. (2009). Experience primes infants to
individuate objects: Illuminating learning mechanisms. In A.
Needham & A. Woodward (Eds.), Learning and the Infant Mind (pp.
117-143). NY: Oxford University Press.
Wilcox, T., Woods, R., & Chapa, C. (2008). Color-function
categories that prime infants to use color information in an object
individuation task. Cognitive Psychology, 57(3), 220-261. pdf
Wilcox, T., Bortfeld, H., Woods, R., Wruck, E., & Boas, D.
(2008). Hemodynamic response to featural changes in the occipital
and inferior temporal cortex in infants: a preliminary
methodological exploration. Developmental Science, 11(3), 361-370.
pdf
Wilcox, T., Woods, R., Chapa, C., & McCurry, S. (2007).
Multisensory exploration and object individuation in infancy.
Developmental Psychology, 43, 479-495. pdf
Woods, R. J., & Wilcox, T. (2006). Infants' ability to use
luminance information to individuate objects. Cognition, 99,
B31-B40. pdf
Wilcox, T., Woods, R., Tuggy, L., & Napoli, R. (2006). Shake,
rattle, and…. one or two objects? Infants' use of sound information
to individuate objects. Infancy, 9, 97-123. pdf