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Development Neurocognition Disorders

Themes and actions

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Typical and atypical development of conceptual knowledge


  Contact person
Nathalie BEDOIN

Scientific framework and objectives

In the context of a new line of research about intuitive conceptions in the domain of ecology, we investigate folkbiology and folkpsychology, which are two naïve theories of central concern for living things. We also assess intuitive conceptions about between-species interactions (how solidarity, reciprocity and altruism are conceived). The aim is to help governments of the countries involved in our project to deal with the question of the education of children and teenagers towards ecological behaviours. Our purpose is also to improve our understanding about some of the specificities of conceptual systems in autistic patients.
Atypical development of conceptual systems can also occur in association with mental deficiency, such as observed in Down’s Syndrome. We assess visual spatial deficiencies in patients with Down’s Syndrome and particularly a specific deficit to engage attention in global processing, which may explain some difficulties in performing categorisation and developing hierarchical conceptual knowledge.
Finally, we assess the characteristics of the acquisition of new knowledge about unfamiliar objects in the elderly, who have sophisticated conceptual systems, but may suffer from abnormalities in case of dementia.

Adults are supposed to use two separate intuitive theories, one in biology and the other one in psychology, but the age at which such a distinction does exist is still undecided. Do inferences differ according to the psychological or biological nature of attributes? We assess the relevance of various cues to generalise one property from an animal A to another animal (B) in children. We investigate the weight of various kinds of information to modulate such inferences: what about information about A and B membership to the same category? or about their visual similarity? or about the fact that they already present with another similar biological or psychological attribute? Is a common essence as easily induced from information about the similarity in biological traits as it is from the common membership to a labelled category?
One important argument for an autonomous intuitive theory about biology is the ability to draw similar inferences from animals and plants. However, the cognitive status of plants as a biological category remains unclear in the organisation of concepts. We are conducting experiments (forced-choice tasks, inference tasks, judgement tasks…) to test a new hypothesis. We assume that social-serving teleological reasoning is used for artefacts, but also to a certain extent for plants, which may contribute to increase the ambiguous status of plants within the unified concept of living things. We also investigate how between-species interactions (with or without reciprocity) are interpreted, as far as animals and plants are concerned.
Categories seem to play a crucial role not only to modulate the ways of thinking, but also to constrain learning processes. We study the effects of age on the hierarchical level at which new information about unfamiliar objects are memorized: are traces about new artefacts always stored at a rather specific level of complexity in the hierarchical organisation of knowledge (e.g., as a tool or a musical instrument)? What about animals? We have elaborated a new experimental design to put constraints upon the level at which new information may be stored in memory. In this context, we investigate the effects of age and the specific impact of Alzheimer dementia.

Taken as a whole, the results of our experiments argue for the sensitivity of young children to the difference between animals and artefacts, with earlier abilities in dealing with animals’ attributes (Boyer, Bedoin, & Honoré, 2000). We also provide evidence for an early distinction between biological and psychological attributes, but also a partial reorganisation of knowledge in 9-year-olds (Bedoin, 1999). Six-year-old children can already interpret information about A and B sharing a biological attribute (but not a psychological one) as a relevant cue to infer that A and B share some essence, which leads children to guess that A and B may share additional biological (but not psychological) properties. However, a shared psychological attribute is interpreted as an argument for A and B to share additional psychological attributes. In 7-to-8-year-olds, a specific status is given to category names to make inferences about the essence of animals.
Regarding the specific status of plants within the living things category, our data suggest that adults prefer social-serving teleological explanations to explain the attributes of plants (as it is the case for artefacts), rather than the attributes of animals (Bedoin & Vulliez, 2007 ; Bedoin & Vulliez, in revision). Therefore, plants may not only differ from animal by the low relevance of an intuitive psychology to account for their properties, but also by their tendency to trigger intuitive explanations devoted to artefacts. Data obtained in control children and in high-level autistic children and adolescent suggest that this characteristic occurs in the latest steps of cognitive development in childhood (observed in 11-year-olds but not in 8-year-olds) and is not observed in autistic persons.
Additionally, we pointed out a specific deficiency of patients presenting with a Down’s Syndrome in engaging attention in the global processing of complex visual information. We assess the possible links between this cognitive deficiency and difficulties in elaborating hierarchical conceptual systems (Curie et al., 2008).
Finally, the researches that we conducted in the elderly with or without dementia suggest that patients presenting with a Diogene Syndrome in fronto-temporal dementia are still sensitive to disgust, despite irrelevant behaviours (Bedoin et al., soumis). Experiments conducted to study seniors who are learning information about unfamiliar objects show differences between the ways memories are stored, according to the category. Whatever the context, animals are first of all stored as animals, whereas artefacts are stored at a more specific level (Bedoin & Brédard, 2001). However, in patients with Alzheimer Disease, the level of storage is less constrained by the cognitive organisation of categories, while the context in with information is learned has a stronger impact on the level of complexity at which information is stored in memory.


  Publications
  • Baguena, N., Pagnon, F., Honoré-Masson, S., Bedoin, N., Thomas-Antérion, C., Laurent, B., 2003, "Traitement de la forme, de la taille et de la couleur dans l'image mentale visuelle", actes de 5ème Colloque des Jeunes Chercheurs en Sciences Cognitives, Paris, France, 2003, June
  • Bedoin, N., Boyer, P., Devinck, F., 2000, "Typicality evaluated by specicality can predict performances in a categorisation task", International Journal of Psychology, 35, pp. 288
  • Bedoin, N., Bredard, C., 2001, "Apprentissage d'objets nouveaux et spécificité des catégories dans les premiers stades de la maladie d'Alzheimer", Revue Neurologique, 157, pp. 17
  • Bedoin, N., Dissard, P., 1992, "Quantification de l'analogie et concept de spécicalité. ", in Intelligence artificielle et sciences humaines. , Brissaud, M., Grange, M., Nicoloyannis, N. (eds), Hermès, Paris, Hermès, pp. 73-91
  • Bedoin, N., 1991, "Rôle du statut cognitif des propriétés des objets dans la typicalité des représentations d'animaux : la spécicalité", Séminaire de l'Unité INSERM 280, Lyon, septembre 1991
  • Bedoin, N., 2001, "Emergence des concepts au cours de l'ontogénèse", Conférence de l'ENST, Paris, mai 2001
  • Bedoin, N., 2005, "Spécificité de domaine et développement des connaissances chez l'enfant", Séminaire du Laboratoire Langage et Cognition (LaCo), Université de Poitiers
  • Bedoin, N., 1990, "Représentation des propriétés des objets et activité sémantique dans la lecture : vers le concept de spécicalité", actes de Congrès Annuel "La Lecture : Processus, Apprentissages, Evoluation, Troubles", Société Française de Psychologie, Lille, France, 1990
  • Bedoin, N., 1999, "Constraints on induction in a verbal and perceptual conflicting task: Familiarity, biological and psychological attributes in early infancy", proc. of 1st Bisontine Conference for Conceptual and Linguistic Development in the Child Aged from 1 to 6 year, Besançon, France, 1999, pp. 1-6
  • Bedoin, N., 1999, "Cognitive mechanisms in distinctiveness effect", proc. of 11th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCOP 11), Ghent, Belgium, septembre 1999
  • Bedoin, N., Baciu, M., Honoré, S., Vernier, M.P., Koenig, O., Segebarth, C., 2001, "Retrieving structural and functional attributes about living things at different levels of hierarchy: An fMRI investigation", proc. of 12th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCOP 12), Edinburgh, Scotland, Septembre 2001
  • Bedoin, N., Bredard, C., 2001, "Apprentissage d'objets nouveaux et spécificité des catégories dans les premiers stades de la maladi d'Alzheimer", proc. of VIème Réunion Francophone sur la Maladie d'Alzheimer et les Syndromes apparentés, et Réunion Internationale de la Société Française de Neurologie sur les Démences, Bordeaux, France, octobre 2001
  • Bedoin, N., Dissard, P., 1991, "Quantification de l'analogie dans les processus de catégorisation : deux exemples d'application du concept de spécicalité", actes de 9èmes Journées de Psychologie Différentielle, Liège, Belgium, 1991, pp. 97-102
  • Bedoin, N., Vulliez, E., 2007, "Explications téléologiques des propriétés dans les catégories Animal et Plante", actes de Congrès de la Société Française de Psychologie (SFP), Nantes, France, 2007, november
  • Bedoin, N., Dissard, P., 1991, "Quantification de l'analogie et concept de spécicalité", actes de 3ème Colloque Interdisciplinaire "Intelligence Articifielle et Sciences Humaines", Lyon, France, 1991, may, Brissaud, M., Grange, M., Nicoloyannis, N. (eds), Hermès, pp. 73-91
  • Bedoin, N., Honoré, S., Boyer, P., 2002, "Hierarchical organisation of semantic memory: An fMRI investigation of structural and functional attributes retrieval", 1ères Journées d'Etude "Imagerie Cérébrale et Langage", Lyon, 2002, december
  • Bedoin, N., 1993, "HORNORM: Logiciel pour l'étude de la spécicalité dans le traitement de figures géométriques", Sciences en Fête, Lons-le-Saunier, France, 1993
  • Bedoin, N., Honoré, S., 2001, "Imagerie mentale visuelle : approche développementale et neuropsychologique", Réunion Trimestrielle du Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Bellevue, Saint Etienne, France, 2001, July
  • Bedoin, N., Vulliez, E., 2006, "Entre théories naïves en biologie et en psychologie : compréhension de l'altruisme chez les animaux et les plantes", actes de Journée Thématique "Conceptions naïves et changement conceptuel", Paris, France, 2006, december
  • Bedoin, N., Vulliez, E., 2009, "Théories naïves et raisonnements téléologiques sur les animaux et les plantes", Psychologie Française, 54:1, pp. 55-74
  • Boyer, P., Bedoin, N., Honoré, S., 2000, "Relative contributions of kind- and domain-level concepts to expectations concerning unfamiliar exemplars: Developmental change and domain differences", Cognitive Development, 15:4, pp. 457-479
  • Curie, A., Bussy, G., Delange, K., Bourret, S., Masson, S., Reboul, A., des Portes, V., Bedoin, N., 2008, "Traitement Global et local de l'information visuelle chez l'enfant sain et dans la trisomie 21", actes de XVIII Congrès de la Société Française de Neurologie Pédiatrique, Besançon, 23-26 janvier 2008
  • Dorey, J.M., Thomas-Antérion, C., Lebert, F., Bedoin, N., Honoré-Masson, S., Gontier, R., 2005, "Syndrome de Diogène et démence fronto-temporale : indifférence ou attirance vers le dégoût ?", proc. of 8ème Réunion Francophone sur la Maladie d'Alzheimer et les Syndromes Apparentés, Saint Etienne, France, 2005, November
  • Honoré, S., Bedoin, N., Thomas-Antérion, C., Laurent, B., 2001, "Organisation des attributs structuraux et fonctionnels chez les sujets normaux jeunes et âgés et chez des patients Alzheimer (DTA)", Revue de Neuropsychologie, 11
  • Honoré, S., Bedoin, N., Boyer, P., 1999, "Etude développementale des processus de catégorisation et spécificité de domaine : le cas des animaux et des artéfacts", actes de L'Enfant et le Monde des Objets, Groupe Francophone d'Etudes du Developpement Psychologique de l'Enfant (GROFRED), Rouen, France, 1999, pp. 30, domain specificity, categorisation, conceptual development
  • Honoré, S., Boyer, P., Bedoin, N., 1999, "Ontological organisation in distinctiveness effect", proc. of 11th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCOP 11), Gent, Belgium, 1999, September
  • Honoré, S., Bedoin, N., Thomas-Antérion, C., Laurent, B., 2001, "Organisation of knowledge about attributes of living things in healthy young adults, healthy older adults and individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DTA)", proc. of 12th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2001, September
  • Honoré, S., Bedoin, N., Boyer, P., 2001, "Développement des concepts chez les enfants de 3 à 11 ans : une évolution spécifique des domaines Animal et Artéfact", actes de 4ème Colloque des Jeunes Chercheurs en Sciences Cognitives, Lyon, France, 2001, pp. 220-223
  • Honoré, S., Bedoin, B., 2000, "Etude de l'organisationdes connaissances en mémoire sémantique chez des patients Alzheimer", Regroupement Annuel des Neuropsychologues de la Région Sud-Est, Lyon, France, 2000, May
  • Honoré, S., Bedoin, N., Boyer, P., 2001, "Développement des concepts chez les enfants de 3 à 11 ans : une évolution spécifique des domaines Animal et Artéfact", actes de 4ème COlloque des Jeunes CHercheurs en Sciences Cognitives, Lyon, France, 2001, May
  • Honoré, S., Bedoin, N., Thomas-Antérion, C., Laurent, B., 2000, "Organisation des attributs structuraux et fonctionnels chez les sujets normaux jeunes et âgés et chez les patients Alzheimer (DTA)", proc. of Réunion d'Hiver de la Société de Neuropsychologie de Langue Française, Paris, France, 2000, december
  • Honoré-Masson, S., Bedoin, N., Boyer, P., 2001, "Développement des concepts chez les enfants de 3 à 11 ans : une évolution spécifique des domaines Animal et Artéfact", Incognito, 23, pp. 23-34
  • Honoré-Masson, S., Thomas-Antérion, C., Bedoin, N., Laurent, B., 2001, "Organisation des connaissances sur les propriétés des êtres vivants : suivi longitudinal de patients DTA", Revue Neurologique, 157, pp. 56
  • Honoré-Masson, S., Thomas-Antérion, C., Bedoin, N., Laurent, B., 2001, "Organisation des connaissances sur les propriétés des êtres vivants : suivi longitudinal de patients DTA", proc. of Alzheimer 2001 : 6ème Réunion Francophone sur la Maladie d'Alzheimer et les Syndromes Apparentés, et Réunion Internationale de la Société Française de Neurologie sur les Démences, Bordeaux, France, 2001, October
  • Honoré-Masson, S., Bedoin, N., Boyer, P., 2004, "Early intuitive dissociation between folkbiological and folkpsychological theories: Emergence of diverse belief systems in the animal domain", proc. of 1st Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and The European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Barcelona, Spain, 2004, July
  • Honoré-Masson, S., Bedoin, N., 2001, "Evolution des connaissances sémantiques en mémoire : étude auprès d'enfants, de jeunes adultes, de patients Alzheimer et leurs contrôles", Réunion Trimestrielle du Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Bellevue, Saint Etienne, France, 2001, November
  • Honoré-Masson, S., Thomas-Antérion, C., Bedoin, N., Laurent, B., 2001, "Influence du mode d'accès aux connaissances sémantiques en mémoire chez des patients DTA et leurs contrôles", Forum Alzheimer des Profesionnels, Bron, France, 2001, November
  • Honoré-Masson, S., Thomas-Antérion, C., Bedoin, N., Laurent, B., 2003, "Evolution de l'organisation hiérarchique des attributs en mémoire chez des patients Alzheimer (DTA) : suivi longitudinal et études transversales", proc. of Réunion de Printemps de la Société de Neuropsychologie de Langue Française, Caen, France, 2003
  • Pagnon, F., Baguena, N., Honoré-Masson, S., Bedoin, N., Thomas-Antérion, C., Laurent, B., 2003, "Effets de la maladie d'Alzheimer sur les capacités d'imagerie mentale visuelle : traitement de la forme, de la taille et de la couleur", proc. of 7ème Réunion Francophone sur la Maladie d'ALzheimer et les Syndromes Apparentés, et Réunion Internationale de la Société Française de Neurologie sur les Démences, Paris, France, 2003, October
  • Pagnon, F., Baguena, N., Honoré-Masson, S., Bedoin, N., Thomas-Antérion, C., Laurent, B., 2003, "Effets de la maladie d'Alzheimer sur les capacités d'imagerie mentale visuelle : traitement de la dorme, de la taille et de la couleur", actes de Alzheimer 2003, Paris, France, 2003, October
  • Reboul, A., Foudon, N., Bedoin, N., Vulliez, E., 2005, "Développement du langage et de la catégorisation chez des sourds et les autistes", actes de 3èmes Rencontres du Réseau National d'Etudes Cognitives et Neurocognitives de l'autisme, Paris, France, 2005, November

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