Infant spatial categorization

描述(由申请者提供)：目前的项目探索幼儿如何获得在特定语言的语义空间范畴中表达的意义。本研究采用多方面的研究方法，通过大量的实验研究，考察了幼儿空间认知的各个方面以及语言对幼儿空间分类的影响。特别是，一些实验研究探索了婴儿空间范畴的内容(即，言语前和早期语言的婴儿可以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？)。更多的实验研究旨在勾勒出语言输入影响婴儿对空间事件分类的程度和机制。因此，学习英语的婴幼儿形成的空间范畴类型将与学习韩语的婴幼儿形成的空间范畴类型以及学习西班牙语的婴幼儿形成的空间范畴类型进行比较。其他实验研究探索语言输入的增加是否能促进婴儿形成特定类型的空间范畴的能力。综上所述，本项目的发现将有助于深入了解婴儿在发育的头两年中非语言空间认知与语言之间相互作用的本质，并将有助于阐明幼儿如何形成特定于其语言的语义空间范畴。最后，这些发现将证明，在不同文化和英语以外的语言环境中长大的婴幼儿，其空间分类的发展是否存在差异。

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.