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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Toddlers Encode Similarities Among Novel Words From Meaningful Sentences, Erica H. Wojcik, Jenny R. Saffran
Toddlers Encode Similarities Among Novel Words From Meaningful Sentences, Erica H. Wojcik, Jenny R. Saffran
Erica Wojcik
Toddlers can learn about the meanings of individual words from the structure and semantics of the sentences in which they are embedded. However, it remains unknown whether toddlers encode similarities among novel words based on their positions within sentences. In three experiments, two-year-olds listened to novel words embedded in familiar sentence frames. Some novel words consistently occurred in the subject position across sentences, and others in the object position across sentences. An auditory semantic task was used to test whether toddlers encoded similarities based on sentential position, for (a) pairs of novel words that occurred within the same sentence, and …
Remembering New Words: Integrating Early Memory Development Into Word Learning, Erica H. Wojcik
Remembering New Words: Integrating Early Memory Development Into Word Learning, Erica H. Wojcik
Erica Wojcik
In order to successfully acquire a new word, young children must learn the correct associations between labels and their referents. For decades, word-learning researchers have explored how young children are able to form these associations. However, in addition to learning label-referent mappings, children must also remember them. Despite the importance of memory processes in forming a stable lexicon, there has been little integration of early memory research into the study of early word learning. After discussing what we know about how young children remember words over time, this paper reviews the infant memory development literature as it relates to early …