Journal article
What’s new? Children prefer novelty in referent selection
Cognition, Vol.118(2), pp.234-244
02/2011
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.10.015
PMCID: PMC3022084
PMID: 21092945
Abstract
Determining the referent of a novel name is a critical task for young language learners. The majority of studies on children’s referent selection focus on manipulating the sources of information (linguistic, contextual and pragmatic) that children can use to solve the referent mapping problem. Here, we take a step back and explore how children’s endogenous biases towards novelty and their own familiarity with novel objects influence their performance in such a task. We familiarized 2-year-old children with previously novel objects. Then, on novel name referent selection trials children were asked to select the referent from three novel objects: two previously seen and one completely novel object. Children demonstrated a clear bias to select the most novel object. A second experiment controls for pragmatic responding and replicates this finding. We conclude, therefore, that children’s referent selection is biased by previous exposure and children’s endogenous bias to novelty.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- What’s new? Children prefer novelty in referent selection
- Creators
- Jessica S Horst - School of Psychology, University of Sussex, United KingdomLarissa K Samuelson - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, United StatesSarah C Kucker - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, United StatesBob McMurray - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Cognition, Vol.118(2), pp.234-244
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.10.015
- PMID
- 21092945
- PMCID
- PMC3022084
- ISSN
- 0010-0277
- eISSN
- 1873-7838
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/2011
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders; Linguistics; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Otolaryngology
- Record Identifier
- 9984070873102771
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