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

描述(由申请者提供)：本建议中描述的实验调查幼儿学习新单词的过程。年仅两岁的孩子就能很快地给他们听到的一个新单词赋予一个含义。有一个强烈的直觉假设，为了建立这一意义，学习者必须在其所指的单词在场的情况下听到该词，例如，在猫在场的情况下听到[Kaet]，在踢球动作的在场的情况下听到[Kik]。然而，在事件的自然过程中，单词，特别是动词，经常在没有所指对象的情况下引入(例如，“让我们收拾行李”)。令人惊讶的是，分析显示，当母亲与年幼的孩子交谈时，大多数动词都是指缺席的事件。那么，它们是如何为新动词建立意义的呢？我们的目标是开发一个范式，并提供一个经验基础来解决这个问题。为了做到这一点，我们只在语言环境中向2岁的孩子展示新奇的动词，而没有相关的视觉场景。延迟一段时间后，我们向他们提供候选视觉事件，以确定他们是否(A)为新动词赋予了意义，以及(B)即使在延迟之后也能回忆起这些意义。我们还评估了延迟期间的一段时间的睡眠是否有助于幼儿将新动词融入他们现有的词汇知识中。这项工作旨在描述词汇习得的过程。理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的关于典型发育儿童学习的知识基础，这是理解语言发育迟缓和残疾儿童的学习差异的关键。 公共卫生相关性：这项拟议的工作旨在描述词汇习得的过程。理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是至关重要的，而且对于旨在帮助发育迟缓儿童和语言迟缓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的关于典型发育儿童学习的知识基础，这是理解语言发育迟缓和残疾儿童的学习差异的关键。

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.