Development of Categorical Representations for "Above" and "Below" Spatial Relations in 3- to 7-Month-Old Infants.

A series of experiments examined the abilities of infants to form categorical representations for the spatial relations above and below. Experiment 1 provided evidence that 3- to 4-month-olds can form categorical representations for above and below when a diamond shape was presented above or below a horizontal bar. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that 3- and 4-month-olds did not form categorical representations for above and below when a number of discriminably different shapes (e.g., a diamond, a triangle, a dot) appeared above or below the bar. These more abstract categorical representations for above and below were formed by 6-to 7-month-olds (Experiment 4). The findings suggest an experientially or maturationally based trend, from concrete to abstract, in the categorical representation of common spatial relations.