Many faces, a single rule: Abstract rule learning at 7 months of age

The ability to recognize and generalize abstract information in rule-like patterns is termed Rule Learning and is available from 7 months of age. Although some studies suggest the RL is domain-specific to language, others suggest that it is not specific to language and that the familiarity of the stimuli matters more than whether the input is linguistic or non-linguistic. The present study investigated 7-month-olds' Rule Learning using one of the most salient and familiar visual stimulus category available in infants' environment, that is faces. Findings support the idea that familiarity of the stimulus modulates infants' ability to extract abstract relations.