Too much of a good thing: How novelty biases and vocabulary influence known and novel referent selection in 18-month-old children and associative learning models

Sarah C Kucker; Bob McMurray; Larissa K Samuelson

doi:10.1111/cogs.12610

Back

Too much of a good thing: How novelty biases and vocabulary influence known and novel referent selection in 18-month-old children and associative learning models

Journal article

Open access

Too much of a good thing: How novelty biases and vocabulary influence known and novel referent selection in 18-month-old children and associative learning models

Sarah C Kucker, Bob McMurray and Larissa K Samuelson

Cognitive science, Vol.42(Suppl 2), pp.463-493

05/2018

DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12610

PMCID: PMC5980730

PMID: 29630722

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12610View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Identifying the referent of novel words is a complex process that young children do with relative ease. When given multiple objects along with a novel word, children select the most novel item, sometimes retaining the word-referent link. Prior work is inconsistent, however, on the role of object novelty. Two experiments examine 18-month-old children’s performance on referent selection and retention with novel and known words. The results reveal a pervasive novelty bias on referent selection with both known and novel names and, across individual children, a negative correlation between attention to novelty and retention of new word-referent links. A computational model examines possible sources of the bias, suggesting novelty supports in-the-moment behavior but not retention. Together, results suggest that when lexical knowledge is weak, attention to novelty drives behavior, but alone does not sustain learning. Importantly, the results demonstrate that word learning may be driven, in part, by low-level perceptual processes.

novelty

word learning

referent selection

Details

Title: Subtitle: Too much of a good thing: How novelty biases and vocabulary influence known and novel referent selection in 18-month-old children and associative learning models
Creators: Sarah C Kucker - Department of Psychology, The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; The DeLTA Center
Bob McMurray - Department of Psychological and Brain Science, The University of Iowa; The DeLTA Center
Larissa K Samuelson - School of Psychology, The University of East Anglia; The DeLTA Center
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Cognitive science, Vol.42(Suppl 2), pp.463-493
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12610
PMID: 29630722
PMCID: PMC5980730
NLM abbreviation: Cogn Sci
ISSN: 0364-0213
eISSN: 1551-6709
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100009633, name: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, award: R01HD045713
Language: English
Date published: 05/2018
Academic Unit: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Linguistics; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Otolaryngology
Record Identifier: 9984070335302771

Metrics

24 Record Views

34 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details