Amy E Booth
Biographic Data
| ID | 5759548 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Amy E Booth |
| GIVEN NAMES | Amy E |
| FAMILY NAME | Booth |
| SIGNATURE | BOOTH A E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northwestern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4832-558X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Predicting elementary scientific literacy from preschoolers’ causal stance, causal reasoning skills, and home science environment.
0.28, 54% girls, 46% boys) representative of the diverse demographics (30% Hispanic/Latino, 13% Black/African American, 11% mixed race/other, 3% Asian) of Austin, Texas, to examine the relative degree to which preschoolers' causal stance, causal reasoning skills, and home science environment predict scientific literacy through early elementary school. Together, these three predictors explained up to one third of the variance in scientific literac…
Exploring the foundations of early scientific literacy: Children’s causal stance
From an early age, children show a keen interest in discovering the causal structure of the world around them. Given how fundamental causal information is to scientific inquiry and knowledge, this early emerging "causal stance" might be important in propelling the development of scientific literacy. However, currently little is known about the development of children's causal stance, or how it might relate to concurrent or subsequent scientific l…
Parents’ causal talk: Links to children’s causal stance and emerging scientific literacy
To explore the potential contribution of parents' causal talk to preschooler's emerging scientific literacy and related interests, we observed 153 parent-child dyads playing together in a museum and in the lab. As in previous work, the frequency with which parents referenced causal information in their speech predicted the strength of their children's causal stance. In addition, the frequency with which parents invited their children to explain c…
Exploring potential cognitive foundations of scientific literacy in preschoolers: Causal reasoning and executive function
Exploring individual differences in preschoolers’ causal stance
Preschoolers, as a group, are highly attuned to causality, and this attunement is known to facilitate memory, learning, and problem solving. However, recent work reveals substantial individual variability in the strength of children's "causal stance," as demonstrated by their curiosity about and preference for new causal information. In this study, we explored the coherence and short-term stability of individual differences in children's causal s…
Object Function and Categorization in Infancy: Two Mechanisms of Facilitation
Does function facilitate categorization by focusing infants' attention generally on all commonalities among objects or specifically on functionally relevant properties? After familiarization to a novel category, 18‐month‐olds selected another category member from a pair of previously unseen test objects. In Experiments 1 and 2, infants chose globally similar over functionally similar and novel test objects. Functionally similar and novel test obj…
Déjà vu all over again: Re-revisiting the conceptual status of early word learning: Comment on Smith and Samuelson (2006)
The authors assert that L. B. Smith and L. Samuelson's (2006) most recent critique of A. E. Booth, S. R. Waxman, and Y. T. Huang's (2005) work missed its mark, deflecting attention from the important theoretical difference between the two sets of authors' positions and focusing instead on imagined differences and minor expositional complaints. The authors' goal in this response is twofold. First, they aim to redirect attention to the 1 clear diff…
Conceptual Information Permeates Word Learning in Infancy
Three experiments document that conceptual knowledge influences lexical acquisition in infancy. A novel target object was initially labeled with a novel word. In both yes-no (Experiment 1) and forced-choice (Experiment 2) tasks, 2-year-olds' subsequent extensions were mediated by the conceptual description of the targets. When targets were described as artifacts, infants extended on the basis of shape. When targets were described as animates, inf…
Object names and object functions serve as cues to categories for infants
Can object names and functions act as cues to categories for infants? In Study 1, 14- and 18-month-old infants were shown novel category exemplars along with a function, a name, or no cues. Infants were then asked to "find another one," choosing between 2 novel objects (1 from the familiar category and the other not). Infants at both ages were more likely to select the category match in the function than in the no-cue condition. However, only at …
Perception of the symmetrical patterning of human gait by infants
Two experiments tested 3- and 5-month-old infants' sensitivity to properties of point-light displays of human gait. In Experiment 1, infants were tested for discrimination of point-light displays of a walker and a runner, which, although they differed in many ways, were equivalent with regard to the phasing of limb movements. Results revealed that 3-month-old, but not 5-month-old, infants discriminated these displays. In Experiment 2, the symmetr…
Object names and object functions serve as cues to categories for infants
Can object names and functions act as cues to categories for infants? In Study 1, 14- and 18-month-old infants were shown novel category exemplars along with a function, a name, or no cues. Infants were then asked to "find another one," choosing between 2 novel objects (1 from the familiar category and the other not). Infants at both ages were more likely to select the category match in the function than in the no-cue condition. However, only at …
Conceptual Information Permeates Word Learning in Infancy
Three experiments document that conceptual knowledge influences lexical acquisition in infancy. A novel target object was initially labeled with a novel word. In both yes-no (Experiment 1) and forced-choice (Experiment 2) tasks, 2-year-olds' subsequent extensions were mediated by the conceptual description of the targets. When targets were described as artifacts, infants extended on the basis of shape. When targets were described as animates, inf…
Exploring potential cognitive foundations of scientific literacy in preschoolers: Causal reasoning and executive function
Parents’ causal talk: Links to children’s causal stance and emerging scientific literacy
To explore the potential contribution of parents' causal talk to preschooler's emerging scientific literacy and related interests, we observed 153 parent-child dyads playing together in a museum and in the lab. As in previous work, the frequency with which parents referenced causal information in their speech predicted the strength of their children's causal stance. In addition, the frequency with which parents invited their children to explain c…
Exploring individual differences in preschoolers’ causal stance
Preschoolers, as a group, are highly attuned to causality, and this attunement is known to facilitate memory, learning, and problem solving. However, recent work reveals substantial individual variability in the strength of children's "causal stance," as demonstrated by their curiosity about and preference for new causal information. In this study, we explored the coherence and short-term stability of individual differences in children's causal s…
Perception of the symmetrical patterning of human gait by infants
Two experiments tested 3- and 5-month-old infants' sensitivity to properties of point-light displays of human gait. In Experiment 1, infants were tested for discrimination of point-light displays of a walker and a runner, which, although they differed in many ways, were equivalent with regard to the phasing of limb movements. Results revealed that 3-month-old, but not 5-month-old, infants discriminated these displays. In Experiment 2, the symmetr…
Object names and object functions serve as cues to categories for infants
Can object names and functions act as cues to categories for infants? In Study 1, 14- and 18-month-old infants were shown novel category exemplars along with a function, a name, or no cues. Infants were then asked to "find another one," choosing between 2 novel objects (1 from the familiar category and the other not). Infants at both ages were more likely to select the category match in the function than in the no-cue condition. However, only at …
Perception of the symmetrical patterning of human gait by infants
Two experiments tested 3- and 5-month-old infants' sensitivity to properties of point-light displays of human gait. In Experiment 1, infants were tested for discrimination of point-light displays of a walker and a runner, which, although they differed in many ways, were equivalent with regard to the phasing of limb movements. Results revealed that 3-month-old, but not 5-month-old, infants discriminated these displays. In Experiment 2, the symmetr…
Conceptual Information Permeates Word Learning in Infancy
Three experiments document that conceptual knowledge influences lexical acquisition in infancy. A novel target object was initially labeled with a novel word. In both yes-no (Experiment 1) and forced-choice (Experiment 2) tasks, 2-year-olds' subsequent extensions were mediated by the conceptual description of the targets. When targets were described as artifacts, infants extended on the basis of shape. When targets were described as animates, inf…
Object Function and Categorization in Infancy: Two Mechanisms of Facilitation
Does function facilitate categorization by focusing infants' attention generally on all commonalities among objects or specifically on functionally relevant properties? After familiarization to a novel category, 18‐month‐olds selected another category member from a pair of previously unseen test objects. In Experiments 1 and 2, infants chose globally similar over functionally similar and novel test objects. Functionally similar and novel test obj…
Déjà vu all over again: Re-revisiting the conceptual status of early word learning: Comment on Smith and Samuelson (2006)
The authors assert that L. B. Smith and L. Samuelson's (2006) most recent critique of A. E. Booth, S. R. Waxman, and Y. T. Huang's (2005) work missed its mark, deflecting attention from the important theoretical difference between the two sets of authors' positions and focusing instead on imagined differences and minor expositional complaints. The authors' goal in this response is twofold. First, they aim to redirect attention to the 1 clear diff…
Exploring individual differences in preschoolers’ causal stance
Preschoolers, as a group, are highly attuned to causality, and this attunement is known to facilitate memory, learning, and problem solving. However, recent work reveals substantial individual variability in the strength of children's "causal stance," as demonstrated by their curiosity about and preference for new causal information. In this study, we explored the coherence and short-term stability of individual differences in children's causal s…
Exploring potential cognitive foundations of scientific literacy in preschoolers: Causal reasoning and executive function
Parents’ causal talk: Links to children’s causal stance and emerging scientific literacy
To explore the potential contribution of parents' causal talk to preschooler's emerging scientific literacy and related interests, we observed 153 parent-child dyads playing together in a museum and in the lab. As in previous work, the frequency with which parents referenced causal information in their speech predicted the strength of their children's causal stance. In addition, the frequency with which parents invited their children to explain c…
Exploring the foundations of early scientific literacy: Children’s causal stance
From an early age, children show a keen interest in discovering the causal structure of the world around them. Given how fundamental causal information is to scientific inquiry and knowledge, this early emerging "causal stance" might be important in propelling the development of scientific literacy. However, currently little is known about the development of children's causal stance, or how it might relate to concurrent or subsequent scientific l…
Predicting elementary scientific literacy from preschoolers’ causal stance, causal reasoning skills, and home science environment.
0.28, 54% girls, 46% boys) representative of the diverse demographics (30% Hispanic/Latino, 13% Black/African American, 11% mixed race/other, 3% Asian) of Austin, Texas, to examine the relative degree to which preschoolers' causal stance, causal reasoning skills, and home science environment predict scientific literacy through early elementary school. Together, these three predictors explained up to one third of the variance in scientific literac…
Child and Animal Learning Development (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Developmental psychology (8 works) · Cognitive psychology (7 works) · Language Development and Disorders (4 works) · Literacy (4 works) · Causal model (3 works) · Causal reasoning (3 works) · Cognition (3 works) · Communication (3 works)