Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning
Previous research has shown that shyness affects children’s attention during the disambiguation of novel words via fast-mapping. The current study examined whether shyness also affects children’s attention when eye-gaze cues to novel word meaning are present. 20- to 26-month-old children’s (N = 31)...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Carnegie Mellon University Library Publishing Service
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Language Development Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://lps.library.cmu.edu/LDR/article/id/652/ |
| _version_ | 1827347309548011520 |
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| author | Gert Westermann Katherine E. Twomey Matt Hilton |
| author_facet | Gert Westermann Katherine E. Twomey Matt Hilton |
| author_sort | Gert Westermann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Previous research has shown that shyness affects children’s attention during the disambiguation of novel words via fast-mapping. The current study examined whether shyness also affects children’s attention when eye-gaze cues to novel word meaning are present. 20- to 26-month-old children’s (N = 31) gaze was recorded as they viewed videos in which an onscreen actor sat at a table on which one novel and two familiar objects appeared. The actor looked at and labeled one of the objects, using a novel word if the target object was novel. Overall, shyness was associated with a stronger preference for looking at the actor’s face than the object being labeled. This finding suggests that previous reports of shyer children’s reduced word learning could be explained in terms of preferential attention to faces, reducing shyer children’s opportunity to form a robust association between object and label. Overall, these findings provide new evidence that shyness exerts an effect on language development by modulating the processes by which word meanings are learned. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:46:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eac4bd6e4ab64b5cb3a811ec1c479b10 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2771-7976 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:46:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Carnegie Mellon University Library Publishing Service |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Language Development Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-eac4bd6e4ab64b5cb3a811ec1c479b102024-02-19T12:30:56ZengCarnegie Mellon University Library Publishing ServiceLanguage Development Research2771-79762023-06-013110.34842/2023.652Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learningGert Westermann0Katherine E. Twomey1Matt Hilton2Lancaster UniversityUniversity of ManchesterMaastricht UniversityPrevious research has shown that shyness affects children’s attention during the disambiguation of novel words via fast-mapping. The current study examined whether shyness also affects children’s attention when eye-gaze cues to novel word meaning are present. 20- to 26-month-old children’s (N = 31) gaze was recorded as they viewed videos in which an onscreen actor sat at a table on which one novel and two familiar objects appeared. The actor looked at and labeled one of the objects, using a novel word if the target object was novel. Overall, shyness was associated with a stronger preference for looking at the actor’s face than the object being labeled. This finding suggests that previous reports of shyer children’s reduced word learning could be explained in terms of preferential attention to faces, reducing shyer children’s opportunity to form a robust association between object and label. Overall, these findings provide new evidence that shyness exerts an effect on language development by modulating the processes by which word meanings are learned.https://lps.library.cmu.edu/LDR/article/id/652/temperamentreferent selectionretentionearly childhoodeye-tracking |
| spellingShingle | Gert Westermann Katherine E. Twomey Matt Hilton Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning Language Development Research temperament referent selection retention early childhood eye-tracking |
| title | Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning |
| title_full | Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning |
| title_fullStr | Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning |
| title_short | Face time: Effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning |
| title_sort | face time effects of shyness and attention to faces on early word learning |
| topic | temperament referent selection retention early childhood eye-tracking |
| url | https://lps.library.cmu.edu/LDR/article/id/652/ |
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