Infant spatial categorization

描述（由申请人提供）：目前的项目探讨了幼儿如何获得在特定语言的语义空间类别中表达的含义。本文采用多方面的研究方法，通过大量的实验研究考察了婴儿空间认知的各个方面以及语言对婴儿空间分类的影响。特别是，一些实验研究探索了婴儿空间类别的内容（即，前言语期和早期语言期婴儿能形成什么类型的空间范畴？）以及指导婴儿对空间关系分类的基本过程（即，什么因素影响婴儿对空间关系的分类？另外的实验研究旨在开始勾勒出语言输入影响婴儿空间事件分类的程度和机制。出于这个原因，学习英语的婴儿和幼儿形成的空间类别的类型将与学习韩语的婴儿和幼儿形成的空间类别的类型以及学习西班牙语的婴儿和幼儿形成的空间类别的类型进行比较。其他的实验研究探讨了语言输入的增加是否能促进婴儿形成特定类型的空间类别的能力。总之，当前项目的研究结果将深入了解婴儿在前两年发展期间的非语言空间认知和语言之间相互作用的性质，并将有助于阐明幼儿如何形成特定于其语言的语义空间类别。最后，研究结果将记录婴儿空间分类的发展是否在不同文化和英语以外的语言中长大的婴儿和幼儿中有所不同。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The current project explores how young children acquire the meanings that are expressed in language-specific semantic spatial categories. A multifaceted approach is taken in which aspects of both infant spatial cognition as well as the effect of language on infants' spatial categorization is examined across a number of experimental studies. In particular, a number of the experimental studies explore the content of infants' spatial categories (i.e., what types of spatial categories can preverbal and early-linguistic infants form?) as well as the underlying processes that guide infant categorization of spatial relations (i.e., what factors influence infants' categorization of spatial relations?). Additional experimental studies are designed to begin to outline the degree and mechanism by which linguistic input can influence infants' categorization of spatial events. For this reason, the types of spatial categories that English-learning infants and toddlers form will be compared to the types of spatial categories formed by Korean-learning infants and toddlers as well as those formed by Spanish-learning infants and toddlers. Other experimental studies explore whether the addition of linguistic input can facilitate infants' ability to form particular types of spatial categories. Together, the findings from the current project will provide insight into the nature of the interaction between infants' nonlinguistic spatial cognition and language during the first two years of development and will help elucidate how young children form the semantic spatial categories that are specific to their language. Finally, the findings will document whether the development of infant spatial categorization varies in infants and toddlers raised in different cultures and with languages other than English.