1
|
García-Gámez AB, Macizo P. Gestures as Scaffolding to Learn Vocabulary in a Foreign Language. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1712. [PMID: 38137160 PMCID: PMC10741801 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper investigates the influence of gestures on foreign language (FL) vocabulary learning. In this work, we first address the state of the art in the field and then delve into the research conducted in our lab (three experiments already published) in order to finally offer a unified theoretical interpretation of the role of gestures in FL vocabulary learning. In Experiments 1 and 2, we examined the impact of gestures on noun and verb learning. The results revealed that participants exhibited better learning outcomes when FL words were accompanied by congruent gestures compared to those from the no-gesture condition. Conversely, when meaningless or incongruent gestures were presented alongside new FL words, gestures had a detrimental effect on the learning process. Secondly, we addressed the question of whether or not individuals need to physically perform the gestures themselves to observe the effects of gestures on vocabulary learning (Experiment 3). Results indicated that congruent gestures improved FL word recall when learners only observed the instructor's gestures ("see" group) and when they mimicked them ("do" group). Importantly, the adverse effect associated with incongruent gestures was reduced in the "do" compared to that in the "see" experimental group. These findings suggest that iconic gestures can serve as an effective tool for learning vocabulary in an FL, particularly when the gestures align with the meaning of the words. Furthermore, the active performance of gestures helps counteract the negative effects associated with inconsistencies between gestures and word meanings. Consequently, if a choice must be made, an FL learning strategy in which learners acquire words while making gestures congruent with their meaning would be highly desirable.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Belén García-Gámez
- Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), 18071 Granada, Spain;
- Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Facultad de Psicología, Campus de Cartuja, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Pedro Macizo
- Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), 18071 Granada, Spain;
- Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Facultad de Psicología, Campus de Cartuja, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Alhama RG, Rowland CF, Kidd E. How does linguistic context influence word learning? JOURNAL OF CHILD LANGUAGE 2023; 50:1374-1393. [PMID: 37337944 DOI: 10.1017/s0305000923000302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
While there are well-known demonstrations that children can use distributional information to acquire multiple components of language, the underpinnings of these achievements are unclear. In the current paper, we investigate the potential pre-requisites for a distributional learning model that can explain how children learn their first words. We review existing literature and then present the results of a series of computational simulations with Vector Space Models, a type of distributional semantic model used in Computational Linguistics, which we evaluate against vocabulary acquisition data from children. We focus on nouns and verbs, and we find that: (i) a model with flexibility to adjust for the frequency of events provides a better fit to the human data, (ii) the influence of context words is very local, especially for nouns, and (iii) words that share more contexts with other words are harder to learn.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raquel G Alhama
- Department of Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
| | - Caroline F Rowland
- Language Development Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, The Netherlands
| | - Evan Kidd
- Language Development Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands
- The Australian National University, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sander-Montant A, López Pérez M, Byers-Heinlein K. The more they hear the more they learn? Using data from bilinguals to test models of early lexical development. Cognition 2023; 238:105525. [PMID: 37402336 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
Children have an early ability to learn and comprehend words, a skill that develops as they age. A critical question remains regarding what drives this development. Maturation-based theories emphasise cognitive maturity as a driver of comprehension, while accumulator theories emphasise children's accumulation of language experience over time. In this study we used archival looking-while-listening data from 155 children aged 14-48 months with a range of exposure to the target languages (from 10% to 100%) to evaluate the relative contributions of maturation and experience. We compared four statistical models of noun learning: maturation-only, experience-only, additive (maturation plus experience), and accumulator (maturation times experience). The best-fitting model was the additive model in which both maturation (age) and experience were independent contributors to noun comprehension: older children as well as children who had more experience with the target language were more accurate and looked faster to the target in the looking-while-listening task. A 25% change in relative language exposure was equivalent to a 4 month change in age, and age effects were stronger at younger than at older ages. Whereas accumulator models predict that the lexical development of children with less exposure to a language (as is typical in bilinguals) should fall further and further behind children with more exposure to a language (such as monolinguals), our results indicate that bilinguals are buffered against effects of reduced exposure in each language. This study shows that continuous-level measures from individual children's looking-while-listening data, gathered from children with a range of language experience, provide a powerful window into lexical development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Sander-Montant
- Concordia Infant Research Lab, Department of Psychology, Concordia University (Canada), 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, PY-033, Montréal, Québec H4B 1R6, Canada.
| | - Melanie López Pérez
- Concordia Infant Research Lab, Department of Psychology, Concordia University (Canada), 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, PY-033, Montréal, Québec H4B 1R6, Canada.
| | - Krista Byers-Heinlein
- Concordia Infant Research Lab, Department of Psychology, Concordia University (Canada), 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, PY-033, Montréal, Québec H4B 1R6, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Lisboa IC, Basso DM, Santos JA, Pereira AF. Three Months-Old' Preferences for Biological Motion Configuration and Its Subsequent Decline. Brain Sci 2022; 12:566. [PMID: 35624952 PMCID: PMC9139228 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12050566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
To perceive, identify and understand the action of others, it is essential to perceptually organize individual and local moving body parts (such as limbs) into the whole configuration of a human body in action. Configural processing-processing the relations among features or parts of a stimulus-is a fundamental ability in the perception of several important social stimuli, such as faces or biological motion. Despite this, we know very little about how human infants develop the ability to perceive and prefer configural relations in biological motion. We present two preferential looking experiments (one cross-sectional and one longitudinal) measuring infants' preferential attention between a coherent motion configuration of a person walking vs. a scrambled point-light walker (i.e., a stimulus in which all configural relations were removed, thus, in which the perception of a person is impossible). We found that three-month-old infants prefer a coherent point-light walker in relation to a scrambled display, but both five- and seven-month-old infants do not show any preference. We discuss our findings in terms of the different perceptual, attentional, motor, and brain processes available at each age group, and how they dynamically interact with selective attention toward the coherent and socially relevant motion of a person walking during our first year of life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Isabel C. Lisboa
- Psychology Research Centre (CiPsi), School of Psychology, Campus de Gualtar, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
- Algoritmi Research Centre, School of Engineering, Campus de Azurém, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal;
| | - Daniel M. Basso
- UNINOVA-CTS, Campus de Caparica, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal; (D.M.B.); (A.F.P.)
| | - Jorge A. Santos
- Algoritmi Research Centre, School of Engineering, Campus de Azurém, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal;
- Centre for Computer Graphics, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
- School of Psychology, Campus de Gualtar, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - Alfredo F. Pereira
- UNINOVA-CTS, Campus de Caparica, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal; (D.M.B.); (A.F.P.)
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Hadley EB, Dedrick RF, Dickinson DK, Kim E, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM. Exploring the relations between child and word characteristics and preschoolers' word-learning. JOURNAL OF APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
|
6
|
Konishi H, Brezack N, Michnick Golinkoff R, Hirsh-Pasek K. Crossing to the other side: Language influences children's perception of event components. Cognition 2019; 192:104020. [PMID: 31352223 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Infants appear to progress from universal to language-specific event perception. In Japanese, two different verbs describe a person crossing a bounded ground (e.g., street) versus an unbounded ground (e.g., field) while in English, the same verb - crossing - describes both events. Interestingly, Japanese and English 14-month-old infants form categories of Japanese ground distinctions in nonlinguistic events while by 20 months, only Japanese-reared infants retain this ability. Five experiments were conducted to investigate the role that language plays in children's ability to form categories of Japanese ground-path distinctions. Experiments 1a and 1b first replicated and extended prior research (Göksun et al., 2011) by showing that 14-month-old English-reared children formed categories of Japanese ground-path while 23-month-old children did not in the presence of general language. Experiment 2a paired a single novel word with different Japanese ground categories and found that language weakened 14-month-old infants' categorization abilities. Experiment 2b showed that labeling these event types differentially allowed 23-month-olds to recognize the Japanese ground-path distinctions that they otherwise would not have detected. To assess whether language uniquely encouraged categorization of Japanese ground-path in Experiment 2b, two different tones were paired with ground-path categories in Experiment 3. The results of Experiments 2b and 3 suggested that language but not tones encouraged ground-path categorization. This study is among the first to show that language can be used to heighten and weaken children's categorization of "non-native" event components.
Collapse
|
7
|
Aussems S, Kita S. Seeing Iconic Gestures While Encoding Events Facilitates Children's Memory of These Events. Child Dev 2017; 90:1123-1137. [PMID: 29115673 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
An experiment with 72 three-year-olds investigated whether encoding events while seeing iconic gestures boosts children's memory representation of these events. The events, shown in videos of actors moving in an unusual manner, were presented with either iconic gestures depicting how the actors performed these actions, interactive gestures, or no gesture. In a recognition memory task, children in the iconic gesture condition remembered actors and actions better than children in the control conditions. Iconic gestures were categorized based on how much of the actors was represented by the hands (feet, legs, or body). Only iconic hand-as-body gestures boosted actor memory. Thus, seeing iconic gestures while encoding events facilitates children's memory of those aspects of events that are schematically highlighted by gesture.
Collapse
|
8
|
Lakusta L, Spinelli D, Garcia K. The relationship between pre-verbal event representations and semantic structures: The case of goal and source paths. Cognition 2017; 164:174-187. [PMID: 28433835 PMCID: PMC5494961 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2014] [Revised: 03/28/2017] [Accepted: 04/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We explored the nature of infants' concepts for goal path and source path in motion events (e.g., the duck moved into the bowl/out of the bowl), specifically asking how infants' representations could support the acquisition of the semantic roles of goal path and source path in language. The results showed that 14.5-month-old infants categorized goal paths across different motion events (moving to X, moving on Y), and they also categorized source paths if the source reference objects were highly salient (relatively large in size and colorful). Infants at 10months also categorized goal paths, suggesting that the broad concept GOAL PATH precedes the acquisition of the relevant spatial terms (e.g., "to", "onto"). These results are discussed in terms of the nature of goal and source path representations in infancy (e.g., whether they are represented at a general level - one that encompasses specific relations such as containment and support) as well as the possible mechanisms that may be involved in the mapping of these representations to language.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura Lakusta
- Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043, United States.
| | - Danielle Spinelli
- Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043, United States
| | - Kathryn Garcia
- Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043, United States
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Göksun T, Hirsh-Pasek K, Michnick Golinkoff R. Trading Spaces: Carving up Events for Learning Language. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017; 5:33-42. [DOI: 10.1177/1745691609356783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Relational terms (e.g., verbs and prepositions) are the cornerstone of language development, bringing together two distinct fields: linguistic theory and infants’ event processing. To acquire relational terms such as run, walk, in, and on, infants must first perceive and conceptualize components of dynamic events such as containment—support, path—manner, source—goal, and figure—ground. Infants must then uncover how the particular language they are learning encodes these constructs. This review addresses the interaction of language learning with infants’ conceptualization of these nonlinguistic spatial event components. We present the thesis that infants start with language-general nonlinguistic constructs that are gradually refined and tuned to the requirements of their native language. In effect, infants are trading spaces, maintaining their sensitivity to some relational distinctions while dampening other distinctions, depending on how their native language expresses these constructs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tilbe Göksun
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA,
| | | | - Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
- School of Education and Departments of Psychology and Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware, Newark
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Satchell L, Akehurst L, Morris P. Learning to Be Streetwise: The Acquisition of Accurate Judgments of Aggression. PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY, AND LAW : AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION OF PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW 2016; 24:356-364. [PMID: 31983960 PMCID: PMC6818309 DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2016.1247420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The detection of potential danger is an important factor in avoiding harm that is even more important for vulnerable populations such as children. This study explores whether children can recognise the potential for a dangerous encounter from observing the gait of an approaching individual. The participants are divided into three age groups: 13- to 15-year-olds, 16- to 17-year-olds, and over 18s. Participants made judgments of nine, point light presentations of people walking on a treadmill. Ratings of intimidation made by participants were used to assess their ability to detect the walkers' trait aggression. The ability to detect trait aggression accurately was found to increase with age, as does the consistency in ratings between individuals within the same age group. The importance of experiential learning in the acquisition of aggression detection skills is highlighted.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liam Satchell
- International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
| | - Lucy Akehurst
- International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
| | - Paul Morris
- International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Konishi H, Stahl AE, Golinkoff RM, Hirsh-Pasek K. Individual differences in nonlinguistic event categorization predict later motion verb comprehension. J Exp Child Psychol 2016; 151:18-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2015] [Revised: 01/18/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
|
12
|
Song L, Pruden SM, Golinkoff RM, Hirsh-Pasek K. Prelinguistic foundations of verb learning: Infants discriminate and categorize dynamic human actions. J Exp Child Psychol 2016; 151:77-95. [PMID: 26968395 PMCID: PMC5017891 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Action categorization is necessary for human cognition and is foundational to learning verbs, which label categories of actions and events. In two studies using a nonlinguistic preferential looking paradigm, 10- to 12-month-old English-learning infants were tested on their ability to discriminate and categorize a dynamic human manner of motion (i.e., way in which a figure moves; e.g., marching). Study 1 results reveal that infants can discriminate a change in path and actor across instances of the same manner of motion. Study 2 results suggest that infants categorize the manner of motion for dynamic human events even under conditions in which other components of the event change, including the actor's path and the actor. Together, these two studies extend prior research on infant action categorization of animated motion events by providing evidence that infants can categorize dynamic human actions, a skill foundational to the learning of motion verbs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lulu Song
- Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Konishi H, Pruden SM, Golinkoff RM, Hirsh-Pasek K. Categorization of dynamic realistic motion events: Infants form categories of path before manner. J Exp Child Psychol 2016; 152:54-70. [PMID: 27467120 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2016] [Revised: 07/01/2016] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Acquiring verbs and prepositions requires categorization of spatial relations. This study examined whether a ground object differentially influences 13- to 15-month-old English-learning infants' categorization of a figure's path (e.g., around; Experiment 1) and manner (e.g., hopping; Experiment 2) of motion in non-linguistic dynamic realistic events. Furthermore, we tested whether categorizing path is "easier" than categorizing manner. Results revealed that infants categorized path only in the presence of a ground object, validating Talmy's definition of path. In contrast, infants categorized manner only in the absence of a ground object. Finally, infants categorizing path showed stronger novelty preferences than those categorizing manner, supporting a primacy of path. Infants showed sensitivity to event components lexicalized in relational terms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Haruka Konishi
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
| | - Shannon M Pruden
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
| | | | - Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Gampe A, Brauer J, Daum MM. Imitation is beneficial for verb learning in toddlers. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2016.1139495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
|
15
|
Imai M, Kita S. The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2014; 369:20130298. [PMID: 25092666 PMCID: PMC4123677 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Sound symbolism is a non-arbitrary relationship between speech sounds and meaning. We review evidence that, contrary to the traditional view in linguistics, sound symbolism is an important design feature of language, which affects online processing of language, and most importantly, language acquisition. We propose the sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis, claiming that (i) pre-verbal infants are sensitive to sound symbolism, due to a biologically endowed ability to map and integrate multi-modal input, (ii) sound symbolism helps infants gain referential insight for speech sounds, (iii) sound symbolism helps infants and toddlers associate speech sounds with their referents to establish a lexical representation and (iv) sound symbolism helps toddlers learn words by allowing them to focus on referents embedded in a complex scene, alleviating Quine's problem. We further explore the possibility that sound symbolism is deeply related to language evolution, drawing the parallel between historical development of language across generations and ontogenetic development within individuals. Finally, we suggest that sound symbolism bootstrapping is a part of a more general phenomenon of bootstrapping by means of iconic representations, drawing on similarities and close behavioural links between sound symbolism and speech-accompanying iconic gesture.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mutsumi Imai
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Sotaro Kita
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Birmingham, CV4 7AL, UK
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Twenty-Five Years Using the Intermodal Preferential Looking Paradigm to Study Language Acquisition. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2013; 8:316-39. [DOI: 10.1177/1745691613484936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The intermodal preferential looking paradigm (IPLP) has proven to be a revolutionary method for the examination of infants’ emerging language knowledge. In the IPLP, infants’ language comprehension is measured by their differential visual fixation to two images presented side-by-side when only one of the images matches an accompanying linguistic stimulus. Researchers can examine burgeoning knowledge in the areas of phonology, semantics, syntax, and morphology in infants not yet speaking. The IPLP enables the exploration of the underlying mechanisms involved in language learning and illuminates how infants identify the correspondences between language and referents in the world. It has also fostered the study of infants’ conceptions of the dynamic events that language will express. Exemplifying translational science, the IPLP is now being investigated for its clinical and diagnostic value.
Collapse
|
17
|
Pruden SM, Roseberry S, Göksun T, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM. Infant categorization of path relations during dynamic events. Child Dev 2013; 84:331-45. [PMID: 22937834 PMCID: PMC3514615 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01843.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Fundamental to amassing a lexicon of relational terms (i.e., verbs, prepositions) is the ability to abstract and categorize spatial relations such as a figure (e.g., boy) moving along a path (e.g., around the barn). Three studies examine how infants learn to categorize path over changes in manner, or how an action is performed (e.g., running vs. crawling). Experiment 1 (n = 60) finds that 10- to 12-month-old English-learning infants categorize a figure's path. In Experiment 2 (n = 27) categorization is disrupted when the ground object is removed, suggesting the relation between figure and ground defines the path. Experiment 3 (n = 24) shows that language may be a mechanism guiding category formation. These studies suggest that English-learning infants can categorize path, a component lexicalized in the world's languages.
Collapse
|
18
|
Roseberry S, Göksun T, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM. Carving Categories in a Continuous World: Preverbal Infants Discriminate Categorical Changes Before Distance Changes in Dynamic Events. SPATIAL COGNITION AND COMPUTATION 2012. [DOI: 10.1080/13875868.2011.564338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
19
|
Pruden SM, Göksun T, Roseberry S, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM. Find your manners: how do infants detect the invariant manner of motion in dynamic events? Child Dev 2012; 83:977-91. [PMID: 22364352 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01737.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
To learn motion verbs, infants must be sensitive to the specific event features lexicalized in their language. One event feature important for the acquisition of English motion verbs is the manner of motion. This article examines when and how infants detect manners of motion across variations in the figure's path. Experiment 1 shows that 13- to 15-month-olds (N = 30) can detect an invariant manner of motion when the figure's path changes. Experiment 2 reveals that reducing the complexity of the events, by dampening the figure's path, helps 10- to 12-month-olds (N = 19) detect the invariant manner. These findings suggest that: (a) infants notice event features lexicalized in English motion verbs, and (b) attention to manner can be promoted by reducing event complexity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shannon M Pruden
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Comment les touts-petits apprennent-ils les verbes ? ENFANCE 2011. [DOI: 10.4074/s0013754511003077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
|
21
|
McDonough C, Song L, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM, Lannon R. An image is worth a thousand words: why nouns tend to dominate verbs in early word learning. Dev Sci 2011; 14:181-9. [PMID: 21359165 PMCID: PMC3043374 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00968.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Nouns are generally easier to learn than verbs (e.g., Bornstein, 2005; Bornstein et al., 2004; Gentner, 1982; Maguire, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2006). Yet, verbs appear in children's earliest vocabularies, creating a seeming paradox. This paper examines one hypothesis about the difference between noun and verb acquisition. Perhaps the advantage nouns have is not a function of grammatical form class but rather related to a word's imageability. Here, word imageability ratings and form class (nouns and verbs) were correlated with age of acquisition according to the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) (Fenson et al., 1994). CDI age of acquisition was negatively correlated with words' imageability ratings. Further, a word's imageability contributes to the variance of the word's age of acquisition above and beyond form class, suggesting that at the beginning of word learning, imageability might be a driving factor.
Collapse
|
22
|
Maguire MJ, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM, Imai M, Haryu E, Vanegas S, Okada H, Pulverman R, Sanchez-Davis B. A developmental shift from similar to language-specific strategies in verb acquisition: a comparison of English, Spanish, and Japanese. Cognition 2009; 114:299-319. [PMID: 19897183 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2008] [Revised: 09/29/2009] [Accepted: 10/02/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The world's languages draw on a common set of event components for their verb systems. Yet, these components are differentially distributed across languages. At what age do children begin to use language-specific patterns to narrow possible verb meanings? English-, Japanese-, and Spanish-speaking adults, toddlers, and preschoolers were shown videos of an animated star performing a novel manner along a novel path paired with a language-appropriate nonsense verb. They were then asked to extend that verb to either the same manner or the same path as in training. Across languages, toddlers (2- and 2.5-year-olds) revealed a significant preference for interpreting the verb as a path verb. In preschool (3- and 5-year-olds) and adulthood, the participants displayed language-specific patterns of verb construal. These findings illuminate the way in which verb construal comes to reflect the properties of the input language.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mandy J Maguire
- University of Texas at Dallas, Callier Center for Communication Disorders, 1966 Inwood Rd., Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
23
|
Seston R, Golinkoff RM, Ma W, Hirsh-Pasek K. Vacuuming with my mouth?: Children's ability to comprehend novel extensions of familiar verbs. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2009; 24:113-124. [PMID: 20161104 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2008.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Can 6- and 8-year-olds (and adults) comprehend common instrument verbs when extended to novel situations? Participants heard eight unusual extensions of common verbs and were asked to paraphrase the verbs' meanings. Half of the verbs used were specified instrument verbs that include the name of the instrument used to perform the action (e.g., a vacuum is used to vacuum); the other half were open instrument verbs (e.g., write) whose function can be performed with a range of objects. Results suggest that children's ability to interpret verb extensions increases with age, that open instrument verb extensions were more difficult to comprehend than specified instrument verb extensions and that performance on verb extension correlates with scores on a standardized test of language acquisition. Verb knowledge continues to develop well beyond the preschool years.
Collapse
|
24
|
Ma W, Golinkoff RM, Hirsh-Pasek K, McDonough C, Tardif T. Imageability predicts the age of acquisition of verbs in Chinese children. JOURNAL OF CHILD LANGUAGE 2009; 36:405-423. [PMID: 18937878 PMCID: PMC2925137 DOI: 10.1017/s0305000908009008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Verbs are harder to learn than nouns in English and in many other languages, but are relatively easy to learn in Chinese. This paper evaluates one potential explanation for these findings by examining the construct of imageability, or the ability of a word to produce a mental image. Chinese adults rated the imageability of Chinese words from the Chinese Communicative Development Inventory (Tardif et al., in press). Imageability ratings were a reliable predictor of age of acquisition in Chinese for both nouns and verbs. Furthermore, whereas early Chinese and English nouns do not differ in imageability, verbs receive higher imageability ratings in Chinese than in English. Compared with input frequency, imageability independently accounts for a portion of the variance in age of acquisition (AoA) of verb learning in Chinese and English.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Weiyi Ma
- School of Education, University of Delaware, Newark 19716, USA.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
25
|
Loucks J, Baldwin D. Sources of information for discriminating dynamic human actions. Cognition 2009; 111:84-97. [PMID: 19185854 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2008] [Revised: 12/17/2008] [Accepted: 12/30/2008] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Despite the importance of action identification and discrimination in action perception and social cognition more broadly, little research has investigated how these processes are achieved. To this end, we sought to identify the extent to which adults capitalize on featural versus configural sources of information when discriminating small-scale human actions such as grasp and place. Results across two experiments indicate adults are sensitive to both sources of information in action discrimination, but selectively attend to featural over configural action information. The findings also parallel what is known regarding face processing: processing of configural information is especially disrupted by inversion, whereas processing of featural information is specifically affected by low-pass filtering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Loucks
- Department of Psychology, 1127 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1227, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
26
|
Imai M, Li L, Haryu E, Okada H, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM, Shigematsu J. Novel noun and verb learning in Chinese-, English-, and Japanese-speaking children. Child Dev 2008; 79:979-1000. [PMID: 18717902 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01171.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
When can children speaking Japanese, English, or Chinese map and extend novel nouns and verbs? Across 6 studies, 3- and 5-year-old children in all 3 languages map and extend novel nouns more readily than novel verbs. This finding prevails even in languages like Chinese and Japanese that are assumed to be verb-friendly languages (e.g., T. Tardif, 1996). The results also suggest that the input language uniquely shapes verb learning such that English-speaking children require grammatical support to learn verbs, whereas Chinese children require pragmatic as well as grammatical support. This research bears on how universally shared cognitive factors and language-specific linguistic factors interact in lexical development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mutsumi Imai
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University at Shonan-Fujisawa, 5322 Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, 252-8520, Japan.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
27
|
Imai M, Kita S, Nagumo M, Okada H. Sound symbolism facilitates early verb learning. Cognition 2008; 109:54-65. [PMID: 18835600 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2007] [Revised: 07/07/2008] [Accepted: 07/24/2008] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Some words are sound-symbolic in that they involve a non-arbitrary relationship between sound and meaning. Here, we report that 25-month-old children are sensitive to cross-linguistically valid sound-symbolic matches in the domain of action and that this sound symbolism facilitates verb learning in young children. We constructed a set of novel sound-symbolic verbs whose sounds were judged to match certain actions better than others, as confirmed by adult Japanese- as well as English speakers, and by 2- and 3-year-old Japanese-speaking children. These sound-symbolic verbs, together with other novel non-sound-symbolic verbs, were used in a verb learning task with 3-year-old Japanese children. In line with the previous literature, 3-year-olds could not generalize the meaning of novel non-sound-symbolic verbs on the basis of the sameness of action. However, 3-year-olds could correctly generalize the meaning of novel sound-symbolic verbs. These results suggest that iconic scaffolding by means of sound symbolism plays an important role in early verb learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mutsumi Imai
- Department of Environmental Information, Keio University at Shonan-Fujisawa, Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
28
|
Golinkoff RM, Hirsh-Pasek K. How toddlers begin to learn verbs. Trends Cogn Sci 2008; 12:397-403. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2008] [Revised: 07/08/2008] [Accepted: 07/09/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
|
29
|
Maguire MJ, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM, Brandone AC. Focusing on the relation: fewer exemplars facilitate children's initial verb learning and extension. Dev Sci 2008; 11:628-34. [PMID: 18576970 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00707.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mandy J Maguire
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
30
|
Hirsh-Pasek K, Michnick Golinkoff R. King Solomon's Take on Word Learning: An Integrative Account from the Radical Middle. ADVANCES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 2008; 36:1-29. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-2407(08)00001-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
|
31
|
Striano T, Reid VM. Social cognition in the first year. Trends Cogn Sci 2006; 10:471-6. [PMID: 16942896 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2006] [Revised: 07/11/2006] [Accepted: 08/17/2006] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Although the study of infancy has answered many important questions about the human capacity for social cognition, the relatively young field of developmental social cognition is far from reaching its adulthood. With the merging of developmental, behavioral and neurocognitive sciences, some growing pains are in store. New work demonstrates that research into early social cognitive development must integrate various research fields and methods in order to achieve a more robust understanding of the nature and parameters of human social cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tricia Striano
- Department of Pediatrics and Kennedy Center for Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|