Sometimes it is better to know less: How known words influence referent selection and retention in 18- to 24-month-old children

Sarah C Kucker; Bob McMurray; Larissa K Samuelson

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104705

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Sometimes it is better to know less: How known words influence referent selection and retention in 18- to 24-month-old children

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Sometimes it is better to know less: How known words influence referent selection and retention in 18- to 24-month-old children

Sarah C Kucker, Bob McMurray and Larissa K Samuelson

Journal of experimental child psychology, Vol.189, pp.104705-104705

01/2020

DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104705

PMCID: PMC6851412

PMID: 31634736

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/6851412View

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Abstract

Young children are surprisingly good word learners. Despite their relative lack of world knowledge and limited vocabularies, they consistently map novel words to novel referents and, at later ages, show retention of these new word-referent pairs. Prior work has implicated the use of mutual exclusivity constraints and novelty biases, which require that children use knowledge of well-known words to disambiguate uncertain naming situations. The current study, however, presents evidence that weaker vocabulary knowledge during the initial exposure to a new word may be better for retention of new mappings. Children aged 18-24 months selected referents for novel words in the context of foil stimuli that varied in their lexical strength and novelty: well-known items (e.g., shoe), just-learned weakly known items (e.g., wif), and completely novel items. Referent selection performance was significantly reduced on trials with weakly known foil items. Surprisingly, however, children subsequently showed above-chance retention for novel words mapped in the context of weakly known competitors compared with those mapped with strongly known competitors or with completely novel competitors. We discuss implications for our understanding of word learning constraints and how children use known words and novelty during word learning.

Vocabulary

Mental Recall

Verbal Learning

Humans

Female

Infant

Male

Knowledge

Details

Title: Subtitle: Sometimes it is better to know less: How known words influence referent selection and retention in 18- to 24-month-old children
Creators: Sarah C Kucker - Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 75078, USA. Electronic address: sarah.kucker@okstate.edu
Bob McMurray - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA; DeLTA (Development and Learning from Theory to Application) Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Larissa K Samuelson - DeLTA (Development and Learning from Theory to Application) Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA; School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ, UK
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of experimental child psychology, Vol.189, pp.104705-104705
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104705
PMID: 31634736
PMCID: PMC6851412
NLM abbreviation: J Exp Child Psychol
ISSN: 0022-0965
eISSN: 1096-0457
Publisher: United States
Grant note: R01 HD045713 / NICHD NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 01/2020
Academic Unit: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Linguistics; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Otolaryngology
Record Identifier: 9984070578702771

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