The Type, but Not the Amount, of Information Available Influences Toddlers' Fast Mapping and Retention of New Words

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn W. Brady ◽  
Judith C. Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
New Words ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
Significant Rate ◽  
Mapping Task ◽  
Novel Words

Purpose The authors of this study examined whether the type and number of word-learning cues affect how children infer and retain word-meaning mappings and whether the use of these cues changes with age. Method Forty-eight 18- to 36-month-old children with typical language participated in a fast-mapping task in which 6 novel words were presented with 3 types of cues to the words' referents, either singly or in pairs. One day later, children were tested for retention of the novel words. Results By 24 months of age, children correctly inferred the referents of the novel words at a significant level. Children retained the meanings of words at a significant rate by 30 months of age. Children retained the first 3 of the 6 word-meaning mappings by 24 months of age. For both fast mapping and retention, the efficacy of different cue types changed with development, but children were equally successful whether the novel words were presented with 1 or 2 cues. Conclusion The type of information available to children at fast mapping affects their ability to both form and retain word-meaning associations. Providing children with more information in the form of paired cues had no effect on either fast mapping or retention.

Discourse coherence as a cue to reference in word learning: Evidence for discourse bootstrapping

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jess Sullivan ◽  
Juliana Boucher ◽  
Reina Kiefer ◽  
Katherine Williams ◽  
David Barner
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Temporal Relations ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Coherence Relations ◽  
Meaningful Relationships ◽  
Novel Words

Word learning depends critically on the use of linguistic context to constrain the likely meanings of words. However, the mechanisms by which children infer word meaning from linguistic context are still poorly understood. In the present study, we asked whether adults (n = 58) and 2- to 6-year-old children (n = 180) use discourse coherence relations (i.e., the meaningful relationships between elements within a discourse) to constrain their interpretation of novel words. Specifically, we showed participants videos of novel animals exchanging objects. These videos were accompanied by a linguistic description of the events in which we manipulated a single word within a sentence (and vs. because) in order to alter the causal and temporal relations between the events in the discourse (e.g., “One animal handed the baby to the other animal [and/because] the baby started crying in the talfa’s arms”). We then asked participants which animal (the giver or the receiver) was the referent of the novel word. Across two experiments, we found evidence that young children used the causal and temporal relations in each discourse to constrain their interpretations of novel words.

scholarly journals The Role of Audiovisual Speech in Fast-Mapping and Novel Word Retention in Monolingual and Bilingual 24-Month-Olds

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Drew Weatherhead ◽  
Maria M. Arredondo ◽  
Loreto Nácar Garcia ◽  
Janet F. Werker
Keyword(s):  
Audiovisual Speech ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Linguistic Support ◽  
Word Retention ◽  
Mapping Task ◽  
Novel Words

Three experiments examined the role of audiovisual speech on 24-month-old monolingual and bilinguals’ performance in a fast-mapping task. In all three experiments, toddlers were exposed to familiar trials which tested their knowledge of known word–referent pairs, disambiguation trials in which novel word–referent pairs were indirectly learned, and retention trials which probed their recognition of the newly-learned word–referent pairs. In Experiment 1 (n = 48), lip movements were present during familiar and disambiguation trials, but not retention trials. In Experiment 2 (n = 48), lip movements were present during all three trial types. In Experiment 3 (bilinguals only, n = 24), a still face with no lip movements was present in all three trial types. While toddlers succeeded in the familiar and disambiguation trials of every experiment, success in the retention trials was only found in Experiment 2. This work suggests that the extra-linguistic support provided by lip movements improved the learning and recognition of the novel words.

Word learning in a special population: do individuals with Williams syndrome obey lexical constraints?

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
TASSOS STEVENS ◽  
ANNETTE KARMILOFF-SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Mutual Exclusivity ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
New Words ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
Lexical Constraints

Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, is of special interest to developmental psycholinguists because of its uneven linguistico-cognitive profile of abilities and deficits. One proficiency manifest in WS adolescents and adults is an unusually large vocabulary despite serious deficits in other domains. In this paper, rather than focus on vocabulary size, we explore the processes underlying vocabulary acquisition, i.e. how new words are learned. A WS group was compared to groups of normal MA-matched controls in the range 3–9 years in four different experiments testing for constraints on word learning. We show that in construing the meaning of new words, normal children at all ages display fast mapping and abide by the constraints tested: mutual exclusivity, whole object and taxonomic. By contrast, while the WS group showed fast mapping and the mutual exclusivity constraint, they did not abide by the whole object or taxonomic constraints. This suggests that measuring only the size of WS vocabulary can distort conclusions about the normalcy of WS language. Our study shows that despite equivalent behaviour (i.e. vocabulary test age), the processes underlying how vocabulary is acquired in WS follow a somewhat different path from that of normal children and that the atypically developing brain is not necessarily a window on normal development.

Attention and word learning in toddlers who are late talkers

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 1020-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHELLE MACROY-HIGGINS ◽  
ELIZABETH A. MONTEMARANO
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Attention Allocation ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Auditory Comprehension ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
Novel Words

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine attention allocation in toddlers who were late talkers and toddlers with typical language development while they were engaged in a word-learning task in order to determine if differences exist. Two-year-olds who were late talkers (11) and typically developing toddlers (11) were taught twelve novel pseudo-words for unfamiliar objects over ten training sessions. The toddlers' attention allocation during the word-learning sessions was measured as well as their comprehension of the newly learned words. Late talkers showed reduced attention allocation to objects during word-training sessions, and also comprehended fewer of the novel words than toddlers with typical language development. Attention allocation was found to be a stronger predictor of word learning as compared to cognition and auditory comprehension. Reduced attention allocation may contribute to the early lexical delay characteristic in late talkers.

scholarly journals Non-native phonemes in adult word learning: evidence from the N400m

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1536) ◽  
pp. 3697-3709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Dobel ◽  
Lothar Lagemann ◽  
Pienie Zwitserlood
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Learning Paradigm ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Lexical Activation ◽  
Semantic Access ◽  
Novel Words

Newborns are equipped with a large phonemic inventory that becomes tuned to one's native language early in life. We review and add new data about how learning of a non-native phoneme can be accomplished in adults and how the efficiency of word learning can be assessed by neurophysiological measures. For this purpose, we studied the acquisition of the voiceless, bilabial fricative /Φ/ via a statistical-learning paradigm. Phonemes were embedded in minimal pairs of pseudowords, differing only with respect to the fricative (/aΦo/ versus /afo/). During learning, pseudowords were combined with pictures of objects with some combinations of pseudowords and pictures occurring more frequently than others. Behavioural data and the N400m component, as an index of lexical activation/semantic access, showed that participants had learned to associate the pseudowords with the pictures. However, they could not discriminate within the minimal pairs. Importantly, before learning, the novel words with the sound /Φ/ showed smaller N400 amplitudes than those with native phonemes, evidencing their non-word status. Learning abolished this difference indicating that /Φ/ had become integrated into the native category /f/, instead of establishing a novel category. Our data and review demonstrate that native phonemic categories are powerful attractors hampering the mastery of non-native contrasts.

The Influence of Phonotactic Probability on Nonword Repetition and Fast Mapping in 3-Year-Olds With a History of Expressive Language Delay

2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1773-1779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle MacRoy-Higgins ◽  
Kevin Patrick Dalton
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Phonotactic Probability ◽  
Lexical Representations ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
History Of

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of phonotactic probability on sublexical (phonological) and lexical representations in 3-year-olds who had a history of being late talkers in comparison with their peers with typical language development. Method Ten 3-year-olds who were late talkers and 10 age-matched typically developing controls completed nonword repetition and fast mapping tasks; stimuli for both experimental procedures differed in phonotactic probability. Results Both participant groups repeated nonwords containing high phonotactic probability sequences more accurately than nonwords containing low phonotactic probability sequences. Participants with typical language showed an early advantage for fast mapping high phonotactic probability words; children who were late talkers required more exposures to the novel words to show the same advantage for fast mapping high phonotactic probability words. Conclusions Children who were late talkers showed similar sensitivities to phonotactic probability in nonword repetition and word learning when compared with their peers with no history of language delay. However, word learning in children who were late talkers appeared to be slower when compared with their peers.

Word learning by young sequential bilinguals: Fast mapping in Arabic and Hebrew

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZOHAR EVIATAR ◽  
HAITHAM TAHA ◽  
VIKKI COHEN ◽  
MILA SCHWARTZ
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Mapping Task ◽  
Better Than

ABSTRACTWe tested children attending bilingual Hebrew–Arabic kindergartens on a fast mapping task. These early sequential bilinguals included those with Hebrew as their home language and those with Arabic as their home language. They were compared to monolingual Hebrew and Arabic speakers. The children saw pictures of unfamiliar objects and were taught pseudowords as the object names that followed typical Hebrew, typical Arabic, or neutral phonotactics. Memory, phonological, and morphological abilities were also measured. The bilingual groups performed similarly to each other, and better than the monolingual groups, who also performed similarly to each other. Memory and the interaction between language experience and metalinguistic abilities (phonological and morphological awareness) significantly accounted for variance on the fast mapping tasks. We predicted that bilinguals would be more sensitive to phonotactics than monolinguals. Instead, we found that Arabic speakers (bilinguals and monolinguals) performed better with Hebrew-like stimuli than with Arabic-like stimuli, and no effect of phonotactics for Hebrew speakers. This may reflect the diglossia in Arabic language acquisition. The results suggest that the process of fast mapping is sharpened by multilingual experience, and may be sensitive to sociolinguistic factors such as diglossia.

scholarly journals Children's use of information in word learning

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 393-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Kit-Fong Au
Keyword(s):  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Linguistic Information ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
Novel Material ◽  
Children's Beliefs

ABSTRACTWhenever children hear a novel word, the context supplies information about its meaning. One way children may cope with so much information is to use whatever seems to make sense, given their prior knowledge and beliefs, while ignoring or quickly forgetting the rest. This work examined if and how children's beliefs about word meanings may affect their use of contrastive linguistic information in the input in word learning. In Study 1, some 3- and 4-year-olds were introduced to a novel material or shape name and heard it contrasted with familiar words. Others merely heard the novel word used for referring to an object. These children were then tested to determine what they had learned about their new word meaning. In Study 2, another group of 3-and 4-year-olds were asked to name the materials and shapes used for introducing these novel terms. Children made use of linguistic contrast only in some situations. They benefited more when the novel term did not overlap much in denotation with any terms commonly known by 3-and 4-year-olds. These results suggest that children can use information in the input very efficiently in learning a term for an as-yet-unnamed category, but not in learning a term similar in denotation to a word they already know. Thus, the results are consistent with the claim that children believe every word has a unique denotation.

scholarly journals Adult Fast-Mapping Memory Research Is Based on a Misinterpretation of Developmental-Word-Learning Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 528-533
Author(s):  
Richard J. O’Connor ◽  
Kevin J. Riggs
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Developmental Research ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Mapping Data ◽  
Theoretical Justification ◽  
Memory Research ◽  
New Words ◽  
Mapping Mechanism ◽  
Learning Data ◽  
Made In

Fast mapping is often used to refer to children’s remarkable ability to learn the meanings of new words with minimal exposure and in ambiguous contexts. It is one thing to claim that children are capable of learning words this way; it is another to claim that this ability relies on a specific fast-mapping neurocognitive mechanism that is critical for early word learning. Yet that claim has recently been made in adult memory research and used as a theoretical justification for research into an adult fast-mapping mechanism. In this review, we explain why the existence of such a mechanism in children is not supported by developmental research and explore the implications for adult fast-mapping data and research.

scholarly journals Phonological similarity influences word learning in adults learning Spanish as a foreign language

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
MELISSA K. STAMER ◽  
MICHAEL S. VITEVITCH
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking ◽  
Novel Words

Neighborhood density – the number of words that sound similar to a given word (Luce & Pisoni, 1998) – influences word learning in native English-speaking children and adults (Storkel, 2004; Storkel, Armbruster & Hogan, 2006): novel words with many similar sounding English words (i.e., dense neighborhood) are learned more quickly than novel words with few similar sounding English words (i.e., sparse neighborhood). The present study examined how neighborhood density influences word learning in native English-speaking adults learning Spanish as a foreign language. Students in their third semester of Spanish-language classes learned advanced Spanish words that sounded similar to many known Spanish words (i.e., dense neighborhood) or sounded similar to few known Spanish words (i.e., sparse neighborhood). In three word-learning tasks, performance was better for Spanish words with dense rather than sparse neighborhoods. These results suggest that a similar mechanism may be used to learn new words in a native and a foreign language.

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