New tools for new questions: a multi-site approach to studying the development of selective attention in crib bilinguals

语言发展是由婴儿从家庭和照顾者那里体验到的语言塑造的。我们关于早期语言和言语发展的大部分知识都是基于婴儿只使用一种语言（单语），通常是英语。然而，世界上大多数婴儿，以及美国的许多婴儿，在出生时通常会使用一种以上的语言（双语）。研究必须更多地关注双语经验的作用，以便更好地解释早期语言发展。双语儿童和成人与单语者在几个方面有所不同。例如，双语者的词汇量往往比单语者少，但他们在广泛的一般认知控制技能方面表现得更好。这些技能包括专注于一件事而忽略其他事情的能力（例如，在播放音乐时注意一个人的声音），以及在不同的物体或事件之间转移注意力的能力。如果这些差异即使在年轻的学习者中也存在，它们可能对这些孩子如何学习语言有重要的影响。新的研究表明，双语的一些影响甚至可能在婴儿时期就存在；接触双语的婴儿表现出一些增强的认知控制技能。为了更好地了解双语如何改变婴儿的认知能力，目前的项目检查了婴儿在一岁以内的处理能力，比较了接触一种语言和两种语言的婴儿。我们还比较了接触三种不同特定语言组合的婴儿。具体来说，我们提出了以下问题：双语环境是否会影响婴儿在忽略背景音的情况下专注于单词的能力？它是否能让婴儿更好地学习新模式，即使有分散注意力的信息存在？在双语婴儿中，如果两种语言非常相似还是非常不同，会有优势吗？为了解决这些问题，该项目还开发了一种新的创新测试系统，可以在多个地点进行相同的研究，以便更好地接触到不同语言的人群。父母、幼儿教育工作者、早期干预专家、政策制定者和研究人员都能从提高对婴儿时期双语经历的潜在影响的理解中受益。当前项目创造的新知识将直接有利于语音和语言发展的基础研究。本科生和研究生的学习和训练将通过在四个不同机构的指导研究经验得到加强。新的测试系统将可从一个公共网站下载，增加参与研究的机会，从而促进知识和科学发现。当前项目的发现将为改善父母和照顾者与双语婴儿互动时的决策提供证据，并将为语言、照顾和教育相关政策提出建议。

Language development is shaped by the language that infants experience from families and caregivers. Much of our knowledge about early language and speech development is based on infants experiencing only one language (monolinguals), usually English. However, most infants around the world, and many in the United States, regularly experience more than one language at birth (bilinguals). Research must give more attention to the role of bilingual experience in order to better explain early language development. Bilingual children and adults differ from monolinguals in several ways. For example, bilinguals tend to have smaller vocabularies than monolinguals, but they are better at a wide range of general cognitive control skills. These skills include the ability to attend to one thing while ignoring something else (e.g., pay attention to a person's voice while music is playing), and to shift attention between different objects or events. If these differences are present even in young learners, they might have important implications for how these children learn language. New research suggests that some of the effects of bilingualism may be present even in infancy; bilingually-exposed infants show some enhanced cognitive control skills. To better understand how being bilingual changes an infant's cognitive abilities, the current project examines the processing abilities of infants within their first year of life, comparing infants exposed to one versus two languages. We also compare infants exposed to three different specific language combinations. Specifically, we ask the following questions: does bilingual exposure affect how well infants can focus on words while ignoring background sounds? Does it enable infants to better learn new patterns even in the presence of distracting information? Among bilingual infants, is there an advantage if the two languages are very similar vs. very distinct from one another? To address these questions, the project also develops a new, innovative testing system that enables running the same studies in multiple locations, for improved access to diverse language populations. Parents, early childhood educators, early intervention specialists, policy makers, and researchers all benefit by improved understanding of the potential influences of bilingual experience during infancy. The new knowledge created by the current project will directly benefit basic research on speech and language development. Undergraduate and graduate student learning and training will be enhanced through mentored research experience at four different institutions. The new testing system will be available for download from a public website, increasing access to and opportunities for participation in research and thus advancing knowledge and scientific discovery. The discoveries from the current project will provide evidence for improving decisions by parents and caregivers interacting with bilingual infants, and will suggest recommendations for policies related to language, caregiving, and education.