Object Familiarity Enhances Infants' Use of Phonetic Detail in Novel Words

Infancy : the Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies
Christopher T Fennell

Abstract

Infants greatly refine their ability to discriminate language sounds by 12 months, yet 14-month-olds appear to confuse similar-sounding novel words. Two explanations could account for this phenomenon: infants initially have incomplete phoneme representations, suggesting developmental discontinuity; or word-learning demands interfere with use of established phonetic detail. These hypotheses were tested at 14 months by pairing a novel word with an object preexposed to half the infants and novel to the other half. If demands are key, only preexposed infants should efficiently use phonetic detail; there is no need to concurrently learn object details with the word. If representations lack detail, object familiarity should not matter. Only infants preexposed to the object noticed a change in its label, thus challenging the discontinuity position and demonstrating the impact of object familiarity on early word learning.

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Citations

Feb 6, 2017·Child Development·Leher SinghRoberta Michnick Golinkoff
Jul 11, 2019·PloS One·Jia Hoong Ong, Alice H D Chan
Jul 3, 2013·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Alfredo F PereiraChen Yu
Apr 8, 2020·Language Learning and Development : the Official Journal of the Society for Language Development·Loukia TaxitariNivedita Mani
Mar 1, 2014·Developmental Science·Tania S ZamunerJanet F Werker
Jul 22, 2014·Child Development·Jessica F HayJenny R Saffran
Nov 23, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Elizabeth M ClerkinLinda B Smith
Oct 7, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Paola EscuderoHaley A Vlach
Sep 26, 2019·Infancy : the Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies·Sumarga H SuandaChen Yu
Mar 18, 2020·Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR·Maura O'FallonRochelle S Newman
Jan 1, 2017·Laboratory Phonology·Carolyn QuamLouAnn Gerken
May 28, 2021·Scientific Reports·Cristina JaraMarcela Peña
Jun 8, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Alayo TrippWilliam J Idsardi

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