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

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。两岁大的孩子就能迅速地给他们听到的一个新单词赋予意义。有一个强烈的直觉假设，要建立这个意义，学习者必须在其所指对象在场的情况下听到这个词，例如，在猫在场的情况下听到[kaet]，或者在kickig动作在场的情况下听到[kIk]。然而，在事件的自然过程中，单词，特别是动词，经常在没有其所指的情况下引入（例如，”让我们把我们的包。引人注目的是，分析表明，当与年幼的孩子交谈时，母亲使用的大多数动词都指的是不存在的事件。那么，它们是如何为新动词确立意义的呢？我们的目标是开发一个范例，并提供一个经验基础来解决这个问题。我们这样做，提出了2岁的儿童与新的动词在语言环境中，没有相关的视觉场景。延迟一段时间后，我们为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）即使在延迟后也能回忆起这些意义。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现有的词汇知识中。 这项工作旨在描述词汇习得的过程。了解语言习得的机制不仅对语言习得和认知发展的理论理解至关重要，而且对帮助发育迟缓的儿童也有意义。这里所描述的研究有助于对典型发育儿童的学习知识的不断增长，这是理解语言发育迟缓和残疾儿童的学习如何分化的关键。 公共卫生相关性：拟议的工作旨在描述词汇习得的过程。了解语言习得的机制不仅对语言习得和认知发展的理论理解至关重要，而且对旨在帮助发展和语言迟缓儿童的应用研究也有影响。这里所描述的研究有助于对典型发育儿童的学习知识的不断增长，这是理解语言发育迟缓和残疾儿童的学习如何分化的关键。

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.