RUI: Interactions between language and cognition in the early acquisition of spatial language

这个项目将提供一个更好的理解如何前语言婴儿代表空间配置，以及如何语言输入和经验的对象在生命的前四年影响早期的空间表征。具体而言，在儿童获得空间语言的研究中，该项目将探讨他们对空间配置的理解，他们听到的语言以及他们对物体的体验之间的相互作用。这项研究将提供早期空间术语发展的详细了解，从而阐明这些术语如何能够表达与STEM相关学科相关的抽象空间关系。这项研究也有可能有助于理解患有发育障碍（如自闭症或威廉综合征）的个体的空间和语言缺陷。最后，该项目将为来自代表性不足群体的学生提供科学研究项目各个方面的经验。指导将由不同实验室和大学的两名教师进行，从而为学生提供科学研究的机会，并向他们灌输对科学发现的欣赏。这个项目是高度跨学科的。它使用的方法是由空间术语的语言分析的动机，它提出了明确的假设建立在婴儿认知和语言发展的研究结果，它利用国家的最先进的研究方法来研究婴儿认知和语言发展。该项目将通过检查可能在空间语言习得中发挥重要作用的三个组成部分来研究空间语言的发展：（a）核心空间概念，（B）语言输入，以及（c）与物体的具体经验。为了系统地测试这些组成部分的相互作用，该项目将侧重于“支持”领域。“从下面支持”的核心概念将在6个月至4.5岁的儿童中进行测试，使用婴儿注视时间范例和早期语言理解范例，以及自发和诱发语言产生方法。语言输入对儿童理解支持的影响将通过与父母的语言支持儿童的语言发展，并与具体的支持语言，如“是”或“坚持”，儿童的空间表征进行测试。儿童的经验与对象对他们的理解的支持的影响将通过检查他们的经验与对象属性相关的支持，如“粘性”，影响早期的支持理解。

This project will provide a better understanding of how preverbal infants represent spatial configurations, and of how linguistic input and experiences with objects in the first four years of life affect early spatial representations. Specifically, in studies of children acquiring spatial language, the project will explore interactions between their understanding of spatial configurations, the language they hear, and their experience with objects. The research will provide detailed understanding of early spatial term development, thus illuminating how these terms might enable the expression of abstract spatial relationships pertinent to STEM-related disciplines. The research also has the potential to contribute to understanding of spatial and language deficits in individuals with developmental disorders (such as autism or William syndrome). Finally, this project will give a diverse set of students from underrepresented groups experience with all aspects of a scientific research project. Mentoring will be conducted by two faculty in different laboratories and Universities, thus offering students exposure to scientific research and instilling in them an appreciation for scientific discovery. This project is highly inter-disciplinary. It uses an approach that is motivated by linguistic analyses of spatial terms, it proposes clear hypotheses built on findings from studies of infant cognition and language development, and it utilizes state-of-the art research methods for studying infant cognition and language development. The project will study spatial language development by examining three components likely to play a significant role in spatial language acquisition: (a) core spatial concepts, (b) linguistic input, and (c) specific experiences with objects. To systematically test the interaction of these components, the project will focus on the domain of "support." The core concept of "support from below" will be tested in children 6 months to 4.5 years of age, using infant looking time paradigms and early language comprehension paradigms, as well as spontaneous and elicited language production methods. The influence of linguistic input on children's understanding of support will be tested by relating parents' language of support to children's language development, and by relating specific support language, such as "is on" or "sticks to," to children's spatial representations. The influence of children's experience with objects on their understanding of support will be tested by examining how their experiences with object properties relevant for support, such as "stickiness," influence early support understanding.