Children as young as 16 months have started to understand how to transfer learned skills to new situations, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Researchers at Ohio State University tested eight and 16-month-olds to see if they could take something learned from one situation and apply it to another.
While the eight-month-olds were unable to transfer what they had learned, the 16-month-olds were able to predict what would happen in a new situation, based upon what they had learned in a previous one.
"Some time between 8 and 16 months, infants begin learning how to learn," explained lead author Julie Hupp.
"They begin to transfer their new knowledge and use it in a totally different situation, which is a very important step in development."
The researchers tested the infants by using a video sequence. They showed the same sequence until the children got bored and looked away, and then began training them to pay attention to the end of the video by adding new, animated items there.
Once the children learned to pay closer heed to the end of the video sequence, the researchers began testing them with an audio sequence instead.
The 16-month-olds paid more attention to the end of the audio clip, having figured out new sounds would be more likely to appear there – but the eight-month-olds were unable to transfer their experience, suggesting the ability begins to develop at some point between eight and 16 months of age.