Projects per year
Abstract
Identifying the referent of novel words is a complex process that young children do with relative ease. When given multiple objects along with a novel word, children select the most novel item, sometimes retaining the word‐referent link. Prior work is inconsistent, however, on the role of object novelty. Two experiments examine 18‐month‐old children's performance on referent selection and retention with novel and known words. The results reveal a pervasive novelty bias on referent selection with both known and novel names and, across individual children, a negative correlation between attention to novelty and retention of new word‐referent links. A computational model examines possible sources of the bias, suggesting novelty supports in‐the‐moment behavior but not retention. Together, results suggest that when lexical knowledge is weak, attention to novelty drives behavior, but alone does not sustain learning. Importantly, the results demonstrate that word learning may be driven, in part, by low‐level perceptual processes.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 463-493 |
Number of pages | 31 |
Journal | Cognitive Science |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | S2 |
Early online date | 6 Apr 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2018 |
Keywords
- word learning
- cognitive development
- connectionist model
- fast-mapping
- novelty
Profiles
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Larissa Samuelson
- Developmental Science - Member
- School of Psychology - Professor in Psychology
- Cognition, Action and Perception - Member
Person: Research Group Member, Academic, Teaching & Research
Projects
- 1 Finished
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The Dynamics of Visual Attention and Word Learning
Samuelson, L., Spencer, J., Bhat, A., Cassidy, J. & Cassidy, J.
4/08/15 → 30/04/22
Project: Research