Collaborative Research: Connecting linguistic and perceptual development through symmetry

合作研究：通过对称性连接语言和知觉发展

基本信息

批准号：
1941014
负责人：
Barbara Landau
金额：
$ 14.33万
依托单位：
Johns Hopkins University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-09-01 至 2024-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1941014&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research Connecting linguistic perceptual

项目摘要

The extent of children's knowledge of language at school entry predicts their later academic success, even for those disciplines not commonly associated with language skills, such as science and mathematics. For example, teachers tell children that “two and two is equal to four”, and that “the earth is similar to (or “is like”) a ball”. Our ultimate understanding of mathematical symbols and their combination are supported by language, through words and their syntactic combination. This research examines how children come to understand the abstract meaning of logical words such as “equal”, “similar”, and “and”. How do children learn that if X is similar to Y, Y must be similar to X? These examples have in common the key concept that is the focus of the planned research, the concept of symmetry – a central idea in perception, language and thought. Symmetry is a relation that remains the same even when reversed logically or physically. Thus, if X equals Y, Y must equal X, and if the button matches the shirt, so must the shirt match the button. Symmetry seems an exotic topic but in fact is foundational in reasoning, geometry, algebra, biology, and physics, and is threaded through the vocabulary, including nouns (“cousin”), verbs (“meet”), and adjectives (“similar”). Despite the ubiquity of symmetry in language and its formative connection to STEM, little is known about how preschoolers acquire an understanding of symmetrical words, or how they perceive symmetrical interactions. Answering these questions will help explain children’s differences in language abilities and STEM-related learning. All experiments examine how humans perceive, think and/or communicate about symmetry at different stages of development, from infancy to adulthood. Most employ real-time measures, in which eye gaze is recorded as participants hear speech describing scenes of individuals engaged in (a-)symmetrical interactions. A moment-by-moment record is obtained for how participants link scene and syntax and engage in learning of words with potentially (a-)symmetrical meanings. Study 1 examines whether preverbal infants distinguish between perceptually symmetrical vs. asymmetrical interactions, and how older children link perception to abstract symmetry. Study 2 examines when children come to have an adult understanding of symmetrical vs. asymmetrical syntax in language. Study 3 examines how learners combine evidence about symmetrical relations from perceptual and linguistic input. Research incorporates significant education and outreach: undergraduates are involved in research and trained in eye-tracking; research occurs at museums and local preschools, where parents learn about developmental research, its importance, and outcomes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

儿童在学校入学中对语言知识的知识范围预测了他们以后的学术成功，即使对于那些与语言技能相关的学科，例如科学和数学。例如，老师告诉孩子们，“两个和两个等于四个”，“地球类似于（或“像”）一个球。我们对数学符号及其组合的最终理解由语言及其句法组合支持。这项研究考试孩子如何理解逻辑词的抽象含义，例如“平等”，“相似”和“和”。孩子们如何学习，如果x与y相似，y必须与x相似？这些示例具有共同的关键概念，即计划研究的重点，对称性的概念 - 感知，语言和思想的核心思想。对称性是一种关系，即使在逻辑上或物理上逆转时也保持不变。如果x等于y，则必须等于x，如果按钮与衬衫匹配，则衬衫必须匹配按钮。对称性似乎是一个异国情调的话题，但实际上是推理，几何，代数，生物学和物理学的基础，并且通过词汇进行了螺纹，包括名词（“ cousin”），动词（“ Meet”）和形容词和形容词（“类似”）。尽管语言中的对称性无处不在及其与STEM的形成性联系，但对学龄前儿童如何了解对称单词或他们如何感知对称互动的理解知之甚少。回答这些问题将有助于解释儿童在语言能力和与STEM有关的学习方面的差异。所有实验都研究了人类如何在不同的发展阶段（从婴儿期到成年期）对对称性进行感知，思考和/或交流。大多数员工的实时措施，在参与者听到描述参与（A-）对称互动的个人场景的语音时，将眼睛注视记录。对于参与者如何链接场景和语法并从事可能具有（a-）对称含义的单词学习，获得了一会儿记录。研究1检查前言婴儿是否区分感知对称性与非对称相互作用，以及大孩子如何将感知与抽象对称性联系起来。研究2考试在儿童开始对对称与不对称语法的成年人理解时。研究3考试学习者如何结合有关感知和语言输入的对称关系的证据。研究结合了重要的教育和外展：本科生参与了研究并接受了眼神训练；研究发生在博物馆和当地学前班，父母在那里学习了发展研究，其重要性和成果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，通过评估诚实地认为通过评估。