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Hilton M, Twomey KE, Westermann G. Caregivers as experimenters: Reducing unfamiliarity helps shy children learn words. INFANCY 2024; 29:877-893. [PMID: 39285516 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 07/26/2024] [Accepted: 08/30/2024] [Indexed: 10/12/2024]
Abstract
Previous work has found that shy children show chance-level disambiguation and retention of novel word meanings in a typical lab-based word learning task. This effect could be explained in terms of shy children's aversion to unfamiliarity disrupting the requisite attentional processes, because the task is marked by a high degree of unfamiliarity. To test this argument, we examined whether increasing the familiarity of the task facilitates shy children's ability to form and retain word meanings. Two-year-old children (N = 23) took part in a word learning task in which their caregiver acted as the experimenter. On referent selection trials, children were presented with sets of three objects, one novel and two familiar, and were asked for either a familiar object using its known label, or a novel object using a novel word. Children were then tested on their retention of the previously formed novel word-object mappings. In this context of increased familiarity, shyness was unrelated to performance on referent selection trials. However, shyness was positively related to children's retention of the word-object mappings, meaning that shyer children outperformed less-shy children on this measure of word learning. These findings show that context-based familiarity interacts with intrinsic individual differences to affect word learning performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt Hilton
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NL, Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Katherine E Twomey
- Division of Human Communication, Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Gert Westermann
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
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Breitfeld E, Compton AM, Saffran JR. Toddlers' prior social experience with speakers influences their word learning. INFANCY 2024; 29:771-788. [PMID: 38809566 PMCID: PMC11369984 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Toddlers prefer to learn from familiar adults, particularly their caregivers, and perform better on word learning tasks when taught by caregivers than by strangers. However, it remains unclear why toddlers learn better from caregivers than from strangers. One possibility is that toddlers are more receptive to learning from individuals whom they have found to be engaging in previous interactions. The current study tested whether toddlers learn more from an unfamiliar adult who was previously engaging than from an unfamiliar adult who was previously unengaging. Toddlers (27-29 months, N = 40) were taught labels for novel objects by two different experimenters. Prior to word learning, toddlers watched pre-recorded videos of one experimenter utilizing engaging behaviors (i.e., using infant-directed speech, gestures, eye contact, and positive affect) and one experimenter utilizing unengaging behaviors (i.e., using adult-directed speech, no gestures, no eye contact, and neutral affect). Both experimenters were equally engaging during labeling. Word learning was then tested using a looking-while-listening paradigm. The results of linear mixed-effects model, cluster-based permutation, and growth curve analyses suggest heightened performance for words that were taught by the experimenter who was previously engaging. These results begin to reveal the kinds of social experiences that promote success in early word learning.
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Who is running our experiments? The influence of experimenter identity in the marshmallow task. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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VAN Rooijen R, Ward EK, DE Jonge M, Kemner C, Junge C. Two-year-olds at elevated risk for ASD can learn novel words from their parents. JOURNAL OF CHILD LANGUAGE 2022; 49:1052-1063. [PMID: 34227461 DOI: 10.1017/s0305000921000428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have smaller vocabularies in infancy compared to typically-developing children. To understand whether their smaller vocabularies stem from problems in learning, our study compared a prospective risk sample of 18 elevated risk and 11 lower risk 24-month-olds on current vocabulary size and word learning ability using a paradigm in which parents teach their child words. Results revealed that both groups learned novel words, even though parents indicated that infants at elevated risk of ASD knew fewer words. This suggests that these early compromised vocabularies cannot be solely linked to difficulties in word formations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rianne VAN Rooijen
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Netherlands
- Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Netherlands
| | - Emma Kate Ward
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Maretha DE Jonge
- Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Netherlands
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Chantal Kemner
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Netherlands
- Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Netherlands
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Caroline Junge
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Netherlands
- Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Netherlands
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St. Pierre T, White KS, Johnson EK. Experimenter identity: An invisible, lurking variable in developmental research. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/icd.2357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas St. Pierre
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Ontario Canada
| | | | - Elizabeth K. Johnson
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Ontario Canada
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada
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Han M, De Jong NH, Kager R. Prosodic input and children's word learning in infant- and adult-directed speech. Infant Behav Dev 2022; 68:101728. [PMID: 35714557 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
This study examines (1) whether infant-directed speech (IDS) facilitates children's word learning compared to adult-directed speech (ADS); and (2) the link between the prosody of IDS in word-learning contexts and children's word learning from ADS and IDS. Twenty-four Dutch mother-child dyads participated when children were 18 and 24 months old. We collect mothers' ADS and IDS at both ages and test children's word learning from ADS and IDS at 24 months. We find that Dutch 24-month-old children could reliably learn novel words from both ADS and IDS, and IDS had a facilitative effect. In addition, children's word learning from IDS (but not ADS) is predicted by IDS pitch range when mothers introduce unfamiliar words to children at 18 months. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the role of IDS prosody in language development, highlighting both individual differences and contextual differences in IDS prosody.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengru Han
- Department of Chinese Language and Literature, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, 200241 Shanghai, China; Utrecht Institute of Linguistics (OTS), Utrecht University, Trans 10, 3512 JK Utrecht, the Netherlands; Language, Cognition, and Evolution Lab, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, 200241 Shanghai, China.
| | - Nivja H De Jong
- Leiden University Center for Linguistics (LUCL), Leiden University, Van Wijkplaats 4, 2311 BX Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching (ICLON), Leiden University, Kolffpad 1, 2333 BN Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - René Kager
- Utrecht Institute of Linguistics (OTS), Utrecht University, Trans 10, 3512 JK Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Steil JN, Friedrich CK, Schild U. No Evidence of Robust Noun-Referent Associations in German-Learning 6- to 14-Month-Olds. Front Psychol 2021; 12:718742. [PMID: 34690875 PMCID: PMC8526865 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Work with the looking-while-listening (LWL-) paradigm suggested that 6-month-old English-learning infants associated several labels for common nouns with pictures of their referents: While one distractor picture was present, infants systematically fixated the named target picture. However, recent work revealed constraints of infants' noun comprehension. The age at which these abilities can be obtained appears to relate to the infants' familiarity with the talker, the target language, and word frequency differences in target-distractor pairs. Here, we present further data to this newly established field of research. We tested 42 monolingual German-learning infants aged 6–14 months by means of the LWL-paradigm. Infants saw two pictures side-by-side on a screen, whilst an unfamiliar male talker named one of both. Overall, infants did not fixate the target picture more than the distractor picture. In line with previous results, infants' performance on the task was higher when target and distractor differed within their word frequency—as operationalized by the parental rating of word exposure. Together, our results add further evidence for constraints on early word learning. They point to cross-linguistic differences in early word learning and strengthen the view that infants might use extra-linguistic cues within the stimulus pairing, such as frequency imbalance, to disambiguate between two potential referents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica N Steil
- Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Claudia K Friedrich
- Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Ulrike Schild
- Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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Tripp A, Feldman NH, Idsardi WJ. Social Inference May Guide Early Lexical Learning. Front Psychol 2021; 12:645247. [PMID: 34093326 PMCID: PMC8175981 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We incorporate social reasoning about groups of informants into a model of word learning, and show that the model accounts for infant looking behavior in tasks of both word learning and recognition. Simulation 1 models an experiment where 16-month-old infants saw familiar objects labeled either correctly or incorrectly, by either adults or audio talkers. Simulation 2 reinterprets puzzling data from the Switch task, an audiovisual habituation procedure wherein infants are tested on familiarized associations between novel objects and labels. Eight-month-olds outperform 14-month-olds on the Switch task when required to distinguish labels that are minimal pairs (e.g., “buk” and “puk”), but 14-month-olds' performance is improved by habituation stimuli featuring multiple talkers. Our modeling results support the hypothesis that beliefs about knowledgeability and group membership guide infant looking behavior in both tasks. These results show that social and linguistic development interact in non-trivial ways, and that social categorization findings in developmental psychology could have substantial implications for understanding linguistic development in realistic settings where talkers vary according to observable features correlated with social groupings, including linguistic, ethnic, and gendered groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alayo Tripp
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Naomi H Feldman
- Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.,Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - William J Idsardi
- Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
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