Early word learning in single-word and sentential contexts.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 99
Description: The principal goal of the present investigation was to ascertain the role of single-word and sentential contexts in word learning at 15 and 18 months of age. Secondary goals included the investigation of gender differences in word learning and the relations between receptive vocabulary and word learning. These goals necessitated the development of a non-interactive procedure that would permit precise control over the input. Experiments 1 and 2 were concerned with these procedural issues. When 18-month-old girls and boys witnessed audio-visual presentations featuring a speaker who talked about objects while looking at them, the girls learned the words, but the boys did not (Experiment 1). When the task was simplified, 15-month-old girls succeeded when the speaker's image was out of view, but not when it was in view (Experiment 2). The simplified task with out-of-view speaker was used for the remaining experiments. When the target words were presented in single-word or sentential contexts (Experiment 3), there were age- and gender-related differences. Specifically, 15-month-old boys succeeded only in the context of single words, and 15-month-old girls succeeded only in the context of sentences. By contrast, 18-month-old girls and boys learned in both contexts, and they required fewer exposures than did younger learners. When the sentence frames were replaced by tones (Experiment 4), 15- and 18-month-old girls and boys failed to link words with objects. Contrary to expectations, toddlers' receptive or expressive vocabulary was unrelated to their performance on the word-learning task. The results are discussed in terms of contemporary accounts of word learning.
Notes: Adviser:  Sandra E. Trehub.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-10, Section: B, page: 5440.