Spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activation
Previous studies demonstrate that while toddlers can match words with their referent before the age of one, they only begin to extract phonologically- and semantically-related information from speech later in the second year. However, the order and manner in which this information is extracted remai...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Elsevier
2016
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| _version_ | 1826273046922526720 |
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| author | Chow, J Aimola Davies, A Plunkett, K |
| author_facet | Chow, J Aimola Davies, A Plunkett, K |
| author_sort | Chow, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Previous studies demonstrate that while toddlers can match words with their referent before the age of one, they only begin to extract phonologically- and semantically-related information from speech later in the second year. However, the order and manner in which this information is extracted remains unresolved. In two experiments, we adapted the adult four-picture Visual World Paradigm (VWP) (Huettig & McQueen, 2007) for toddler testing: toddlers hear a spoken word and see pictures that are phonologically-related, semantically-related or unrelated to the spoken-word. We demonstrate that, similar to adults, 24- to 30-month-old toddlers attended to a phonological match faster than a semantic match, and that these differences hold irrespective of whether the semantic match is taxonomic or thematic in character. Our findings suggest that language shapes toddlers’ cognition by biasing their selective attention to relevant information in the visual world, which is likely to enhance the efficiency of mental activities, such as learning and making analogical inferences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:22:13Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:556f3dfd-a328-4438-97e0-6959185d1bae |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:22:13Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:556f3dfd-a328-4438-97e0-6959185d1bae2022-03-26T16:44:00ZSpoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activationJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:556f3dfd-a328-4438-97e0-6959185d1baeSymplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2016Chow, JAimola Davies, APlunkett, KPrevious studies demonstrate that while toddlers can match words with their referent before the age of one, they only begin to extract phonologically- and semantically-related information from speech later in the second year. However, the order and manner in which this information is extracted remains unresolved. In two experiments, we adapted the adult four-picture Visual World Paradigm (VWP) (Huettig & McQueen, 2007) for toddler testing: toddlers hear a spoken word and see pictures that are phonologically-related, semantically-related or unrelated to the spoken-word. We demonstrate that, similar to adults, 24- to 30-month-old toddlers attended to a phonological match faster than a semantic match, and that these differences hold irrespective of whether the semantic match is taxonomic or thematic in character. Our findings suggest that language shapes toddlers’ cognition by biasing their selective attention to relevant information in the visual world, which is likely to enhance the efficiency of mental activities, such as learning and making analogical inferences. |
| spellingShingle | Chow, J Aimola Davies, A Plunkett, K Spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activation |
| title | Spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activation |
| title_full | Spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activation |
| title_fullStr | Spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activation |
| title_short | Spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: The tug of war between phonological and semantic activation |
| title_sort | spoken word recognition in 2 year olds the tug of war between phonological and semantic activation |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chowj spokenwordrecognitionin2yearoldsthetugofwarbetweenphonologicalandsemanticactivation AT aimoladaviesa spokenwordrecognitionin2yearoldsthetugofwarbetweenphonologicalandsemanticactivation AT plunkettk spokenwordrecognitionin2yearoldsthetugofwarbetweenphonologicalandsemanticactivation |