ERIC Number: EJ684957
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Jan
Pages: 10
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Can Language Do the Driving? The Effect of Linguistic Input on Infants' Categorization of Support Spatial Relations
Casasola, Marianella
Developmental Psychology, v41 n1 p183-192 Jan 2005
Two experiments explored the effect of linguistic input on 18-month-olds' ability to form an abstract categorical representation of support. Infants were habituated to 4 support events (i.e., one object placed on another) and were tested with a novel support and a novel containment event. Infants formed an abstract category of support (i.e., looked significantly longer at the novel than familiar relation) when hearing the word "on" during habituation but not when viewing the events in silence (Experiment 1) or when hearing general phrases or a novel word (Experiment 2). Results indicate that a familiar word can facilitate infants' formation of an abstract spatial category, leading them to form a category that they do not form in the absence of the word.
Descriptors: Task Analysis, Linguistic Input, Language Acquisition, Spatial Ability, Abstract Reasoning, Cognitive Processes, Toddlers
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A