Context Effects on Word Learning and Generalization

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究项目的长期目标是为言语语言病理学家提供有关如何最好地利用物理环境的信息（例如，房间或环境），以改善初级语言障碍（LI）儿童的单词学习和概括。该项目将重点关注训练环境的变化如何影响单词学习的两个重要组成部分：学习单词-对象链接（即，能够在听到其标签时识别正确的对象），以及学习单词形式（即，当显示目标对象时能够识别正确的标签）。本研究的具体目的是确定：1-训练语境的可变性在多大程度上影响儿童对新学习的词-物联系的记忆，以及他们对这些联系对未经训练的样例和语境的概括; 2-训练语境的可变性在多大程度上影响儿童对新学习的词-物联系的记忆， 新学到的词的形式和他们的概括这些词的形式，以未经训练的范例和上下文; 3-在何种程度上的变化，培训环境在生态有效的干预措施，支持词的学习和概括与LI儿童。根据过去文献的研究结果，中心假设是，在可变背景下进行训练将促进最大的学习优势，因为它将能够对未经训练的样本和未经训练的背景进行上级概括。研究策略包括3个实验，在这些实验中，有和没有LI的儿童将被教导用于不熟悉物体的新单词，然后被要求在训练和未经训练的情况下，在延迟几天后记住单词-物体链接和单词形式。本研究将提供有关语境在儿童保持新词-指称映射中的作用的有价值的信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of this research program is to provide speech-language pathologists with information about how to best use physical context (e.g., the room or setting) to improve word-learning and generalization in children with primary language impairment (LI). The project will focus on how variations of training contexts affect two important components of word learning: learning the word-object link (i.e., being able to identify the correct object when its label is heard), and learning the word-form (i.e., being able to identiy the correct label when shown the target object). The specific aims of the proposed research are to determine: 1-The extent to which variability of training contexts affects children's memory for newly learned word-object links and their generalization of those links to untrained exemplars and contexts; 2- The extent to which variability of training contexts affects children's memory for newly learned word-forms and their generalization of those word-forms to untrained exemplars and contexts; 3-The extent to which variability of training contexts during ecologically-valid interventions supports word learning and generalization among children with LI. Based on findings from past literature, the central hypothesis is that training in variable contexts will promote the most learning advantages as it will enable superior generalization to untrained exemplars and untrained contexts. The research strategy involves 3 experiments in which children with and without LI will be taught new words for unfamiliar objects and then asked to remember the word-object links and word forms in trained and untrained contexts after a delay of several days. This study will provide valuable information about the role of context in children's retention of new word-referent mappings.