Toddlers' representations of verbs: Effects of delay and sleep on verb meaning

幼儿对动词的表征：延迟和睡眠对动词含义的影响

基本信息

批准号：
8243330
负责人：
Sudha Arunachalam
金额：
$ 7.63万
依托单位：
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2012
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2012-02-20 至 2014-01-31
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The experiments described in this proposal investigate the process by which young children learn new words. Children as young as two years old can rapidly assign a meaning to a new word that they hear. There is a strong intuitive assumption that to establish this meaning, learners must hear the word in the presence of its referent, for example, hearing [kaet] in the presence of a cat, or [kIk] in the presence of a kickig action. Yet, in the natural course of events, words, especially verbs, are often introduced in the absence of their referents (e.g., "Let's pack our bag"). Strikingly, analyses reveal that when conversing with their young children, most of the verbs produced by mothers refer to absent events. How, then, do they establish meaning for new verbs? We aim to develop a paradigm and offer an empirical foundation to address this issue. We do so by presenting 2-year-olds with novel verbs in linguistic contexts only, without a relevant visual scene. After a delay, we offer them candidate visual events to determine if they have (a) assigned meaning to the novel verbs, and (b) can recall these meanings even after a delay. We also assess whether a period of sleep during the delay helps toddlers integrate the new verb into their existing lexical knowledge. The proposed work aims to characterize the process of vocabulary acquisition. Understanding the mechanisms of language acquisition is crucial not only to a theoretical understanding of language acquisition and cognitive development, but also has implications for helping children with developmental delays. The research described here contributes to a growing base of knowledge about learning in typically-developing children, which is key in understanding how learning may diverge in children with language delays and disabilities. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed work aims to characterize the process of vocabulary acquisition. Understanding the mechanisms of language acquisition is crucial not only to a theoretical understanding of language acquisition and cognitive development, but also has implications for applied research aimed at helping children with developmental and language delays. The research described here contributes to a growing base of knowledge about learning in typically-developing children, which is key in understanding how learning may diverge in children with language delays and disabilities.

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案中描述的实验调查了幼儿学习新单词的过程。年仅两岁的孩子就能迅速为他们听到的新单词赋予含义。有一个强烈的直觉假设，即为了建立这种含义，学习者必须在其所指对象存在的情况下听到该词，例如，在有猫的情况下听到 [kaet]，或在存在踢动作的情况下听到 [kIk]。然而，在事件的自然过程中，单词，尤其是动词，经常在没有所指对象的情况下被引入（例如，“让我们收拾行李”）。引人注目的是，分析表明，在与年幼的孩子交谈时，母亲所说的大多数动词都指的是缺席的事件。那么，他们如何为新动词确定含义呢？我们的目标是开发一个范式并为解决这个问题提供实证基础。为此，我们仅向 2 岁的孩子展示语言环境中的新动词，而没有相关的视觉场景。延迟后，我们向他们提供候选视觉事件，以确定他们是否（a）为新动词赋予了含义，并且（b）即使在延迟后也能回忆起这些含义。我们还评估了延迟期间的一段睡眠是否有助于幼儿将新动词整合到他们现有的词汇知识中。拟议的工作旨在描述词汇习得过程的特征。了解语言习得的机制不仅对于从理论上理解语言习得和认知发展至关重要，而且对于帮助发育迟缓的儿童也具有重要意义。这里描述的研究有助于不断增长关于典型发育儿童学习的知识基础，这对于理解语言迟缓和残疾儿童的学习如何出现差异至关重要。公共卫生相关性：拟议的工作旨在描述词汇习得过程的特征。了解语言习得的机制不仅对于从理论上理解语言习得和认知发展至关重要，而且对于旨在帮助发育和语言迟缓的儿童的应用研究也具有重要意义。这里描述的研究有助于不断增长关于典型发育儿童学习的知识基础，这对于理解语言迟缓和残疾儿童的学习如何出现差异至关重要。