Language Development in Infants

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Questions and Answers

At what age do infants typically start comprehending nouns?

24 months

18 months

10 months

6 months (correct)

Which of the following statements best describes the difference in comprehension and production of words in 2-year-olds?

They comprehend 2-3 times as many words as they produce. (correct)

They comprehend fewer words than they will produce.

They produce more words than they comprehend.

Their comprehension and production are equal.

When do infants typically start to comprehend verbs?

18 months

10 months (correct)

6 months

24 months

What significant change occurs in infants between 18 and 24 months regarding the looking-while-listening task?

They become faster at identifying objects. Signup and view all the answers

What does the ability of 18-month-olds to identify an object before the full word is said imply?

They have developed advanced linguistic skills. Signup and view all the answers

What is one reason identified for why learning words is hard?

The mapping problem creates ambiguity in word meanings. Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of language do children commonly use when initially learning words?

Nouns Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes 'under-extension' in early word learning?

Applying a word too narrowly to a single object. Signup and view all the answers

What term is used to describe the phenomenon where children apply words too broadly?

Over-extension Signup and view all the answers

Which theoretical approach suggests that learning words is influenced by social interactions?

Social-pragmatic approach Signup and view all the answers

In the context of children's word learning, what does 'comprehension' refer to?

Understanding the meaning of words. Signup and view all the answers

Which factor is NOT mentioned as a possible mechanism for word learning?

Cultural relevance of words Signup and view all the answers

What is a common misconception about children's word learning methods?

Vocabulary is best learned by pointing and naming. Signup and view all the answers

At what age do children typically start to show sensitivity to structural cues for nouns?

18 months Signup and view all the answers

How do two-year-olds use structural cues in language development?

To narrow down verb meanings Signup and view all the answers

According to the social-pragmatic approach proposed by Tomasello, words and word meanings are learned primarily from what type of cues?

Pragmatic cues in the environment Signup and view all the answers

What element is necessary for understanding sentence structure and word meaning, according to the content?

Knowledge of words and word categories Signup and view all the answers

What is a limitation of structural information in understanding language?

It cannot solve all language problems Signup and view all the answers

Which age group showed improvement, but not mastery, in using structural cues for adjectives?

21 months old Signup and view all the answers

What does the example sentence 'The man is meeking the dog' imply about the use of structural cues?

It helps infer the meaning of 'meeking' Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of children's language development is still unclear based on experimental studies?

The timing of structural cues' effectiveness Signup and view all the answers

What role does joint attention play in language acquisition?

It helps infants identify the communicative intent behind adult language. Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of the research by Fernald et al. (2001) regarding infants?

Infants can recognize spoken words using partial phonetic information. Signup and view all the answers

Why do children often learn nouns before verbs, according to Gentner (1982)?

Nouns are easier to categorize than verbs. Signup and view all the answers

At what age do gaze-following behaviors begin to predict language skills?

10 months Signup and view all the answers

What concept is primarily associated with Markman and Wachtel's (1988) findings on children's language development?

Children's use of mutual exclusivity to constrict word meanings. Signup and view all the answers

How do infants use intention reading in language learning?

They determine the meaning of a word based on the adult's intentions. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the primary focus of Jaswal and Hansen's (2006) study?

Children's disregard for pragmatic information that conflicts with mutual exclusivity. Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of cultural routines in early language learning?

Children acquire most of their early language during familiar social contexts. Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of language acquisition does the work of Clark (1995) focus on?

The lexicon and its development during acquisition. Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of scaffolding in the social-pragmatic approach?

To support children’s learning through structured guidance. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the relationship between adults' language use and children's language learning?

Children actively interpret and respond to adult language during joint attention. Signup and view all the answers

What developmental aspect does the research by Fernald et al. (1998) investigate?

Infants' rapid improvements in verbal processing speed. Signup and view all the answers

What outcome does joint attention specifically enhance for toddlers aged 18 to 20 months?

Improved ability to learn names for objects. Signup and view all the answers

What finding is associated with Gelman and Markman (1985) regarding children's understanding of words?

Children rely on implicit contrast in adjectives more than in nouns. Signup and view all the answers

What type of skills are emphasized in the social-cognitive framework for infant language development?

Social-cognitive skills Signup and view all the answers

Which statement reflects the main concern of Quine's work (1960) regarding language?

The challenges of translating meaning between languages. Signup and view all the answers

Which study focuses on the concepts of ontological categories in children's understanding of language?

Ontological categories guide young children's inductions of word meaning Signup and view all the answers

What is a primary method used to assess children's language comprehension?

Looking while listening/pointing Signup and view all the answers

What term describes the tendency of young children to use a single word in a broader context than intended?

Overextension Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following approaches emphasizes the social aspects of language acquisition?

A usage-based approach Signup and view all the answers

In the context of language acquisition, what does joint attention refer to?

Simultaneous focus on an object or event by a child and an adult Signup and view all the answers

What type of study involves teaching children new words in a controlled setting?

Laboratory word learning studies Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of language development does the study by Waxman and Booth specifically address?

Interpretations of novel nouns and adjectives Signup and view all the answers

Which video focuses on the relationship between joint attention and word learning?

Joint attention and word learning Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Word Learning Lecture Notes

Lecture Aims: Outline the mapping problem in word learning, describe children's early words (comprehension and production), and evaluate theories of early word learning.

Lecture Outline

Why learning words is hard: Pointing and naming issues, the mapping problem.
Early words: What do children know about their language, comprehension, and production.
How children learn early words: Teaching words in the lab, some possible learning mechanisms (innate constraints, structural cues in language, social-pragmatic approach).

Word Learning is Hard (1)

Word learning cannot be simply "point and name." Pointing and naming are not universal and usually only apply to nouns.

Word Learning is Hard (2)

The mapping problem (Quine, 1960) - A word can refer to many different features of a concept.

Word Learning is Hard (3)

Getting meaning right: Under-extension (using a word to mean only a certain thing)

Word Learning is Hard (4)

Getting meaning right: Over-extension (using a word for more objects than it typically refers to).

Early Word Knowledge: Comprehension (1)

Comprehension precedes production.
2-year-olds comprehend more words than they produce.
Infants comprehend nouns earlier than verbs (e.g., 6 months old understand nouns).

Early Word Knowledge: Comprehension (2)

Between 18 and 24 months, infants are faster at tasks related to comprehending words.
By 18 months, full words are not necessary for comprehension.

Early Word Knowledge: Production (1)

First words (around 12 months) are often nouns, verbs, action words, and adjectives.
Children’s vocabularies increase greatly between 12 and 30 months. Often showing high variability.

Early Word Knowledge: Production (2)

Early Noun Bias: Nouns predominate in early vocabularies.
Natural partitions hypothesis: Early nouns refer to easily individuated concrete objects rather than states/actions.

Early Word Knowledge: Production (3)

Socially Mediated Learning: Not all early words are nouns. Learning often occurs in situations where adults’ intentions are readily apparent irrespective of word class (e.g., hello, bye).

Early Word Knowledge: Production (4)

Words used in diverse contexts (e.g., actions, naming objects, names for properties).

Early Word Knowledge: Production Errors (1)

Under-extension: Words used only in a particular context or with specific exemplars. (Examples provided: "bye" only for putting down the receiver, "there" only for placing an object.)

Early Word Knowledge: Production Errors (3)

Over-extension: Using a word beyond its true meaning. (E.g., calling a ball an apple)

Lecture Outline (2)

Why learning words is hard.
Pointing and naming issues.
Early words.
Teaching words.
Some possible mechanisms of word learning: Innate constraints, structural cues, social-pragmatic approach.

Innate Constraints on Early Word Learning (1)

Object constraint: Words refer to objects, explaining the early noun bias.
Whole-object constraint: Words refer to whole objects, not parts. (Example: Gavagai = whole animal, not tail, ears, legs).

Innate Constraints on Early Word Learning (2)

Principle of Contrast: No two words have identical meanings, helping overcome overextension.
Mutual Exclusivity: Every object has only one name, helping overcome whole-object constraint.

Problems with Constraints Theories

Do constraints explain word learning or merely describe it?
Are constraints innate or learned?
Are constraints specific to language?

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (1)

Syntactic bootstrapping: Children use sentence structure to infer word meaning (examples of how a child may interpret what sib means).

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (2)

Nouns refer to objects/categories and adjectives refer to properties.
This difference influences how these words are used in sentences.

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (3)

4-year-olds pick different objects of the same kind when asked to find instances of a label but select a different object when asked to find another, different instance of that label.

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (4)

14-month-olds extend novel nouns and adjectives based on category (not property). Children seem to extend the noun to the category but not the property.

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (5)

Category test: When children need to produce a blicket, they select a similar object.
Property test: When required to produce something from the list in consideration to the colour it is, children have more difficulty as they select different objects at random.

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (6)

With adjectives, children don't extend to the category or the property.
When children are presented with a purple horse and a purple plate the children have more difficulty selecting the correct item based on the requested property.

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (7)

Children usually select the same objects based on the colour when referring to a relevant property (e.g., are both purple).

Structural Cues to Word Meaning (8)

Structural cues to nouns seemed to be learned earlier, unlike structural cues related to other words which were learned later.
18-month-olds show the same pattern as 21 month olds who are learning the language, but they are not yet great.

Structural Cues to Word Meaning: Verbs

Structural cues help to further define verb meanings.
2-year-olds use structural cues to narrow down what they mean by a verb.

Structural Cues to Word Meaning: Issues

Children are sensitive to sentence structure in some areas, but not clearly established what and when.
Knowledge of words and broad categories is needed to understand sentence structure.

Children learn words and meanings from pragmatic cues in the environment which remove ambiguities.
Word learning is constrained by social world structures and social cognitive skills like joint attention and intention-reading.

Children learn language from familiar routines and social contexts.
Social routines, e.g., feeding, games, book-reading, help with learning.

Children use speaker’s intentions to infer word meanings and already know the name of the familiar object.
This allows them to assume the speaker intends for them to refer to the novel object/referent.

Children use eye-gaze and joint attention to find the referent.
18-to 20-month olds are better at learning when the speaker and infant are both attending to the referent.

Children infer meanings by looking at a speaker’s intentions.
Children already know the name of the familiar object/referent.

Children can differentiate intended actions from accidental ones when learning new verbs.

What inferential skills do children bring to the task of word learning?
Can this process account for complex syntax?

Word Learning Summary

Language learning is not isolated but influenced by cognitive, social, and environmental factors.
Comprehension precedes production, and early noun bias is a common pattern.
Children access multiple sources of information when learning words.
Different theories try to explain how children learn word meanings.

Critical Evaluations

Unclear when different information is used across developmental stages.
Would we expect the same strategies across languages and cultures?
How do children learn less salient or more abstract words (e.g., the, happiness)?

Supplementary Information: Types of Studies

Study what children already know about their language and when.
How do children talk in naturalistic settings?
Teaching children words in the lab and observing their word learning.

Supplementary Videos (1-4)

Videos on child word learning in American Sign Language and other related contexts. A video on comprehension and production, early word learning, and joint attention and word learning.

References (1 & 2)

Provides references on the topic from various papers relevant to the lecture. List of papers that were discussed in lectures on word learning.

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Description

This quiz explores key concepts related to language development in infants and toddlers, focusing on their ability to comprehend and produce words. It covers age milestones, theoretical approaches, and challenges faced during early word learning. Test your understanding of these important aspects of early childhood language acquisition.