Word Learning Flashcards
Why is word learning hard?
List 2 main reasons
1) Because things can’t just be “point and name”
2) The mapping problem
(+ Difficult to get the meaning right (under-extension and/or over-extension)
True or False?
Point and name is very common (and universal)
False
Point and name is not common (and not
universal)
When children usually point and name, what type of words to they mainly say?
Nouns
Define the mapping problem
When there is potentially an infinite number of possibilities for mapping between a word and potential referents
Simply = When a word can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
When there is potentially an infinite number of possibilities for mapping between a word and potential referents
Simply = When a word can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
This is known as…?
The mapping problem
What is the GAVAGAI problem?
A made up word by Quine (1960) used as an expression of a completely foreign language that is not easily translatable into a known language as it can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
A made up word by Quine (1960) used as an expression of a completely foreign language that is not easily translatable into a known language as it can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
This is known as…?
GAVAGAI problem
Word learning is hard because children struggle to get the meaning of the word right.
Sometimes they express an under-extension of a word
What does this mean?
When the meaning they have for a word is too narrow compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean family dog but not other dogs they see
It’s as if the word “dog” is almost taken as a name and not as a word
When the meaning they have for a word is too narrow compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean family dog but not other dogs they see
It’s as if the word “dog” is almost taken as a name and not as a word
This is known as…?
Under-extension
Word learning is hard because children struggle to get the meaning of the word right.
Sometimes they express an over-extension of a word
What does this mean?
When the meaning they have for a word is too broad compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean any four-legged animal they see including pig, horse, lion
When the meaning they have for a word is too broad compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean any four-legged animal they see including pig, horse, lion
This is known as…?
Over-extension
Do children comprehend or produce words first?
Comprehend words
True or False?
Comprehension precedes production
True
______ -year-olds comprehend 2-3x as
many words as they produce
a. 5
b. 4
c. 3
d. 2
d. 2
2-year-olds comprehend _______ as many words as they produce
a. 2 - 3 times
b. 4 - 5 times
c. 10 - 12 times
d. 1 - 2 times
a. 2 - 3 times
Infants appear to start to
comprehend nouns as early as ____ months
a. 4
b. 5
c. 6
d. 7
c. 6
At 6 months old, what words do infants start to comprehend?
Nouns
Infants start to comprehend verbs
(e.g., eat, hug) at ____ months
a. 10
b. 12
c. 14
d. 16
a. 10
At 10 months, what words do infants start to comprehend?
Verbs
Do infants start to comprehend verbs or nouns first?
Nouns
Which sentence will most likely influence an infant to look at the object
- Look at the apple
- Look at that
- Look at the apple
Are infants more likely to look at a labelled object/image (e.g. “Look at that hand”) or an unlabelled object/image (e.g. “Look at this”)?
Labelled object/image (e.g. “Look at that hand”)
Between 18 and 24 months, infants get much faster on the ______ task
Looking while listening task
At what age range do infants get much faster on the look-while-listening task?
Between 18 and 24 months
By _____ months, infants don’t even need the full word to comprehend what is being said
a. 12
b. 18
c. 24
d. 48
b. 18
True or False?
By 8 months, infants don’t even need the full word to comprehend what is being said
False
By 18 months, infants don’t even need the full word to comprehend what is being said
At around 12 months, what vocalisations do infants produce?
Their first words (saying words to convey meaning)
At what age do infants vocalise their first words?
12 months
By 24-30 months, infants produce up to ___ words
a. 80
b. 200
c. 500
d. 700
c. 500
By _____ to _____ months, infants produce up to 500 words
24 - 30 months
True or False?
By 24 to 30 months, infants produce up to 800 words
False
By 24 to 30 months, infants produce up to 500 words
Infants’ first words come from a range of categories
Name 4 main categories
1) Nouns (objects – dog, cat & proper names - Mummy)
2) Verbs (action words – jump, get)
3) Social routines (bye, hello, please)
4) Adjectives (descriptions – cold, dirty)
In early language, infants often vocalise single words
True or False?
True
e.g. “Apple” instead of “An apple”
What do infants lack in early language?
The usage of articles (a, an, the)
Define early noun bias
When infants tend to vocalise more words that are nouns rather than verbs, adjectives etc.
When infants tend to vocalise more words that are nouns rather than verbs, adjectives etc.
This is known as…?
Early noun bias
____ make up 40% of English-speaking children’s first 50 words
a. Verbs
b. Adjectives
c. Social routines
d. Nouns
d. Nouns
Nouns make up _____% of English-speaking children’s first 50 words
a. 20%
b. 40%
c. 10%
d. 50%
b. 40%
Describe the natural partitions hypothesis
The reason for early noun bias is said to be because concrete objects and entities are easier to individuate from surroundings
The reason for early noun bias is said to be because concrete objects and entities are easier to individuate from surroundings
This is known as…?
Natural partitions hypothesis
Why do infants not have a bias for verbs or adjectives?
Because actions, states and descriptions tend to apply TO entities labelled by nouns
Thus, they are less clearly defined in space and time
Infants do not have a bias for verbs and adjectives because actions, states and descriptions tend to apply TO entities labelled by nouns
Thus, they are less clearly defined in space and time
This is known as the …?
Natural partitions hypothesis
What does socially mediated word learning propose?
List 4 things
1) Not all early words are nouns (hello, bye)
2) Not all early nouns are discrete objects (breakfast)
3) Learning occurs in situations where easiest to read adult’s intentions, irrespective of word class.
4) Happens often with nouns
1) Not all early words are nouns (hello, bye)
2) Not all early nouns are discrete objects (breakfast)
3) Learning occurs in situations where easiest to read adult’s intentions, irrespective of word class.
4) Happens often with nouns
What does this suggest about word learning?
Infants follow socially mediated word learning
Infants use words in a variety of situations
Name 3 situations and give 2 examples for each
1) Names for people and objects
e.g. Daddy, spoon
2) Names for actions
e.g. open to request that a door be opened, a jar be opened etc.
3) Names for properties
e.g. gone, more, dirty
1) Names for people and objects
e.g. using “Daddy” when he is not around, spoon
2) Names for actions
e.g. open to request that a door be opened, a jar be opened etc.
3) Names for properties
e.g. gone, more, dirty
What does this suggest about infant word learning?
Infants use words in a variety of situations
There is some flexibility for the words they use as they are able to apply words they’ve learnt in a particular context to a different context
Word used only in specific context or specific exemplar
This is known as…?
Under-extension
Words used in specific contexts where adults would use in a wide range of contexts
This is an example of…?
Under-extension
Give 3 examples of when infants would use words in specific contexts where
adults would use in a wide range of contexts
1) saying “bye” only when putting the telephone receiver down
2) using “there” only when putting an object in a location (but not to an object “over there”)
3) refering to the word “flower” only to mean a “rose” and NOT other flowers
1) saying “bye” only when putting the telephone receiver down
2) using “there” only when putting an object in a location (but not to an object “over there”)
3) refering to the word “flower” only to mean a “rose” and NOT other flowers
What does this suggest about early word knowledge?
Even though there is a slight flexibility in which the infant is able to use certain words in a variety of different contexts, in some cases, this is not the case
Word used beyond its true meaning
This is known as…?
Over-extension
True or False?
Overextension errors are rare
False
Over-extension errors are frequent
Calling a ball an apple
This is an example of…?
Over-extension
When do children stop making over-extension errors?
2.5 years old
By 2.5 years old, children stop making _____ errors
Over-extension
Define category error
When the infant mixes up the concept of one item with the category of another item
e.g. the concept of ball is incorrectly in the same category as apple
When the infant mixes up the concept of one item with the category of another item
e.g. the concept of ball is incorrectly in the same category as apple
This is known as…?
Category error
Anything shaped like a ball is an apple
e.g. An orange is an apple, a tennis ball is an apple
This is an example of…?
Category error
What are the 2 over-extension errors infants make in early word production?
1) Category error
2) Vocabulary limitations
Why do infants make category errors?
They have vocabulary limitations
e.g. lacking the vocab of “ball”
List the 4 innate constraints on early word learning
1) Object constraint
2) Whole-object constraint
3) Principle of contrast
4) Mutual exclusivity
Describe object constraint
List 2 points
1) When an adult points to an object and says a word, a child assumes this word labels the object
Simply = Words refer to objects
2) This explains noun bias
1) When an adult points to an object and says a word, a child assumes this word labels the object
Simply = Words refer to objects
2) This explains noun bias
This is known as…?
Object constraint
Describe whole object constraint
List 1 point
1) When an adult points to an object and says a word, a child assumes this word labels the entire object, not parts or characteristics of the object
Simply = Words refer to whole objects rather than their parts
e.g. Gavagai labels a whole animal, not its tail, ears, legs
1) When an adult points to an object and says a word, a child assumes this word labels the entire object, not parts or characteristics of the object
Simply = Words refer to whole objects rather than their parts
e.g. Gavagai labels a whole animal, not its tail, ears, legs
This is known as…?
Whole-object constraint
Which innate constraints on early word learning explains early noun bias?
a. Whole-object constraint
b. Mutual exclusivity
c. Principle of contrast
d. Object constraint
d. Object constraint
Describe principle of contrast
List 2 points
1) No two words have exactly the same
meaning
The word “big” can “wide” can’t have exactly the same meaning
2) Explains how the child overcomes overextension (helps the child narrow down the accurate label for an item)
1) No two words have exactly the same
meaning
e.g. The word “big” can “wide” can’t have exactly the same meaning
2) Explains how the child overcomes overextension (helps the child narrow down the accurate label for an item)
This is known as…?
Principle of contrast
Which innate constraints on early word learning explains how the child overcomes overextension (helps the child narrow down the accurate label for an item)?
a. Whole-object constraint
b. Mutual exclusivity
c. Principle of contrast
d. Object constraint
c. Principle of contrast
Describe mutual exclusivity
List 2 points
1) No object has more than one name
e.g. Object X cannot be shoe and ball at the same time
2) Helps children override the ‘whole object constraint’ and learn the names for parts of objects
1) No object has more than one name
e.g. Object X cannot be shoe and ball at the same time
2) Helps children override the ‘whole object constraint’ and learn the names for parts of objects
This is known as…?
Mutual exclusivity
Which innate constraints on early word learning helps children override the ‘whole object constraint’ and learn the names for parts of objects.?
a. Whole-object constraint
b. Mutual exclusivity
c. Principle of contrast
d. Object constraint
b. Mutual exclusivity
Look at this example:
- A picture of a squirrel and an unfamiliar animal of the same size is shown
- Experimenter asks, “which animal do you think is the toma?”
- Ps answer the unfamiliar animal, even though toma is not a real word nor a real animal
- But because the other animal is familiar (squirrel), Ps would not think the squirrel was a toma
This is an example of…?
Mutual exclusivity
What are the 3 main problems with constraints theory?
1) Do constraints explain word learning or just describe it?
- What about non-noun words?
2) Are constraints innate or learned via experience?
- There is little research on young infants
3) Are constraints specific to language?
Look at this example:
1) Experimenter shows an object to infant and says “My uncle gave me this”
2) The infants were asked, “Give me the one my dog likes to play with” (from an array/selection of toys)
3) 3-yr-olds selected the new object
What does this suggest?
Infants follow social inferencing on the intention unrelated to meaning of words
Describe the syntactic bootstrapping hypothesis
Proposes that children use knowledge of syntax itself to decode sentence and verb meanings
Relies on tight links between verb syntax and meaning
Proposes that children use knowledge of syntax itself to decode sentence and verb meanings
Relies on tight links between verb syntax and meaning
This is known as…?
Syntactic bootstrapping
Describe an experiment involving syntactic bootstrapping
List 3 points
1) 3-5-yr-olds shown picture of someone kneading a substance in a bowl
2) Children were asked:
- “do you know what it means to sib?”
- “do you know what a sib is?”
- “have you seen any sib?”
3) Task: the children had to pick from either sibbing, a sib, or sib from selection of pictures depicting several actions, substances, and containers.
They chose:
- sibbing = picture of kneading
- a sib = picture of bowl
- sib = picture of substance
3) Task: the children had to pick from either sibbing, a sib, or sib from selection of pictures depicting several actions, substances, and containers.
They chose:
- sibbing = picture of kneading
- a sib = picture of bowl
- sib = picture of substance
What does this suggest?
Syntactic bootstrapping
Children acquire their native language through exposure to sentences of the language paired with structured representations of their meaning
Simply = They know sibbing sounds like an action word (verb) so it must be kneading
They know a sib sounds like a noun so it must be the bowl
Children acquire their native language through exposure to sentences of the language paired with structured representations of their meaning
Simply = They know sibbing sounds like an action word (verb) so it must be kneading
They know a sib sounds like a noun so it must be the bowl
This is known as…?
Syntactic bootstrapping
1) 3-5-yr-olds shown picture of someone kneading a substance in a bowl
2) Children were asked:
- “do you know what it means to sib?”
- “do you know what a sib is?”
- “have you seen any sib?”
3) Task: the children had to pick from either sibbing, a sib, or sib from selection of pictures depicting several actions, substances, and containers.
They chose:
- sibbing = picture of kneading
- a sib = picture of bowl
- sib = picture of substance
This is an experiment involving testing for…?
Syntactic bootstrapping
Nouns refer to…?
Objects/categories
Adjectives refer
to …?
Properties
What refers to properties?
Adjectives
What refers to objects/categories?
Nouns
“Can you hand me the X?”
Is X…
a. A noun
b. An adjective
c. A verb
d. A simile
a. A noun
“Can you hand me the X one?”
Is X…
a. A noun
b. An adjective
c. A verb
d. A simile
b. An adjective
“Can you hand me the red X?”
Is X…
a. A noun
b. An adjective
c. A verb
d. A simile
a. A noun
“Can you hand me the X pen?”
Is X…
a. A noun
b. An adjective
c. A verb
d. A simile
b. An adjective
Describe the results of Gelman & Markman’s (1985) experiment investigating structural cues to word meaning
4-yr-olds picked a different object of same kind where asked to find the “fep one”
But the children picked a different object when asked to find the “fep”
Describe Waxman & Booth’s (1985) experiment investigating structural cues to word meaning [nouns]
List 5 points
1) Looked at how 14-month olds extend novel nouns and adjectives
2) Children see objects (e.g., purple elephant, purple dog, purple bear, purple lion)
3) Children are told “Look! These are blickets! This one is a blicket and this one is a blicket.”
4) When shown a purple horse and a purple plate and asked to give a blicket, they give the horse
5) When shown a purple horse and a blue horse and asked to give a blicket, they give randomly
1) Looked at how 14-month olds extend novel nouns and adjectives
2) Children see objects (e.g., purple elephant, purple dog, purple bear, purple lion)
3) Children are told “Look! These are blickets! This one is a blicket and this one is a blicket.”
3) When shown a purple horse and a purple plate and asked to give a blicket, they give the horse
4) When shown a purple horse and a blue horse and asked to give a blicket, they give randomly
What does this suggest about structural cues to word meaning in infants?
With nouns, children extend the noun to the
category but not the property
Children extend the noun to the property but not the category
True or False?
False
With nouns, children extend the noun to the category but not the property
When shown a purple horse and a purple plate and asked to give a blicket, children gave…
a. Both
b. The plate
c. The horse
d. Neither
c. The horse
When shown a purple horse and a blue horse and asked to give a blicket, children gave….
a. Randomly
b. The blue horse
c. The purple horse
d. Neither
a. Randomly
In the “blicket” experiment, children treated the word as a…?
a. Verb
b. Adjective
c. Adverb
d. Noun
d. Noun
True or False?
With adjectives, children also extend to the category OR the property
False
With adjectives, children do not extend to the category OR the property
With adjectives, children do not extend to the
a. Category only
b. Property only
c. Category OR the property
d. They do extend to the category and property
c. Category OR the property
Describe Waxman & Booth’s (1985) experiment investigating structural cues to word meaning [adjectives]
List 5 points
1) Looked at how 14-month olds extend novel nouns and adjectives
2) Children see objects (e.g., purple elephant, purple dog, purple bear, purple lion).
3) Children are told “Look! These are blickish! This one is blickish and this one is blickish.”
4) When shown a purple horse and a purple plate and asked to give the blickish one, they give randomly
5) When shown a purple horse and a blue horse and asked to givethe blickish one, they give randomly
1) Looked at how 14-month olds extend novel nouns and adjectives
2) Children see objects (e.g., purple elephant, purple dog, purple bear, purple lion).
3) Children are told “Look! These are blickish! This one is blickish and this one is blickish.”
4) When shown a purple horse and a purple plate and asked to give the blickish one, they give randomly
5) When shown a purple horse and a blue horse and asked to give the blickish one, they give randomly
What does this suggest?
Children DON’T extend adjectives (“blickish”) to the category, but also don’t extend it to the property.
They seem to understand that it is not a noun, but don’t quite get what it actually does
True or False?
Structural cues to nouns seemed to be learned early
True
True or False?
Structural cues to
words other than nouns appear early
False
Structural cues to
words other than nouns appear later
The “blickish” experiment was done on 14 month olds
However, the same pattern is also present in…?
a. 24 month olds
b. 18 month olds
c. 5 years old
d. 2 years old
b. 18 month olds
The “blickish” experiment was done on 14 month olds
However, the same pattern is also present in 18 month olds?
At _____ children are getting better but are still not great
a. 21 month old
b. 26 month old
c. 20 month old
d. 19 month old
a. 21 month old
True or False?
At 21 months old, infants have mastered the understanding of adjectives
False
At 21 months old, infants are getting better but not
great at understanding adjectives
What do 2 year olds use to narrow down verb meanings?
Structural cues
How can structural cues help with understanding verbs?
Structural cues can be used to narrow down verb meanings
How old are infants when they start to use structural cues to narrow down verb meanings?
2 years old
A man is running with a dog right behind him:
- The dog is meeking the man
- The man is meeking the dog
- The man is meeking
- What does meeking mean?
This is an example of…?
Using structural cues to narrow down verb meanings
Children are sensitive to some aspects of sentence structure, but not clear exactly …?
What and when
How can we understand sentence structure?
Having some knowledge of words and word categories is needed to understand their structure
Look at this example:
The man’s tamming over the bridge
Tamming could mean: walking, strolling, going
What does this suggest?
Structural information can’t solve all the problems
An unfamiliar word could mean different things, ambiguous
What are the 4 issues with structural cues to word meaning?
1) Children are sensitive to some aspects of sentence structure, but not clear exactly what and when.
2) The chicken and the egg; Some knowledge of words and word categories is needed to understand their structure.
3) Do experimental studies reveal something about long term learning of word meaning, or immediate problem solving task?
Some experiments are unnatural
4) Structural information can’t solve all the problems
The man’s tamming over the bridge
Tamming could mean: walking, strolling, going
Who proposed the social-pragmatic approach?
Tomasello (2003)
Tomasello (2003) proposed what approach to word learning?
The social-pragmatic approach
According to the social-pragmatic approach, how do children learn words?
Children learn words and word meaning from
pragmatic cues in the environment which
remove ambiguities around word meaning
Children learn words and word meaning from
pragmatic cues in the environment which
remove ambiguities around word meaning
This was proposed by…?
The social-pragmatic approach
According to the social-pragmatic approach, word learning is constrained in 2 main ways
What are they?
1) The social world is structured
2) Social-cognitive skills the infant has
Which approach proposes that word learning is constrained in 2 main ways?
a. The social world is structured
b. Social-cognitive skills the infant has
The social-pragmatic approach
The social-pragmatic approach proposed that word learning is constrained in two main ways:
One way is through how the social world is structured
Give 3 examples of this
1) Routines
2) Games
3) Patterned social interactions
The social-pragmatic approach proposed that word learning is constrained in two main ways:
One way is through the social-cognitive skills the infant has
Give 2 examples of this
1) Joint attention
2) Intention reading
Joint attention and intention reading are examples of…?
Social-cognitive skills the infant has
Routines, games and patterned social interactions are examples of…?
How the social world is structured
Children learn language in familiar _________ in repeated daily routines
Social contexts
True or False?
Children learn language in unfamiliar social contexts in repeated daily routines
False
Children learn language in familiar social contexts in repeated daily routines
Young children learn almost all their early
language in …?
Cultural routines, e.g., feeding, games, book reading
Cross-culturally, children are engaged in a wide range of __________ and learn most of their early words in ______ contexts
a. Social routines
b. Familiar
Social revolution happens at approximately ____ months
a. 6
b. 9
c. 11
d. 12
b. 9
During joint attention, adults use language
and children attempt to …?
Interpret the communicative intent
Word learning occurs when children attempt
to interpret _______ as expressed in the ______
a. The communicative intentions
b. Utterance
The shared common ground reduces the
possible ________
Referents
Children use 2 things to identify referents from adults
What are they?
1) Eye-gaze
2) Joint attention
Children use things like eye-gaze and joint
attention to …?
Identify referents from adults
___ month-olds learn names for objects
better when the speaker and infant are jointly
attending to the object
a. 20-24
b. 8-11
c. 12-15
d. 18-20
d. 18-20
18- to 20-month-olds learn names for objects
better when …?
The speaker and infant are jointly attending to the object
Gaze-following behaviour at 10 months predicts…?
Language skills at 18 months
Gaze-following behaviour at ____ months predicts
language skills at ___ months
a. 2, 12
b. 9, 18
c. 10, 18
d. 12, 18
c. 10, 18
What predicts
language skills at 18 months?
Gaze-following behaviour at 10 months
Children use speaker’s intentions to …?
Infer meaning
What do children use to infer meaning?
The speaker’s intentions
Child already knows the name of the familiar object on the table & she knows the adult knows this too
So she can assume that the adult intends the novel object when the
adults asks her to “show me the modi.”
This is known as…?
Intention reading
Child already knows the name of the familiar object on the table & she knows the adult knows this too.
So she can assume (using intention-reading) that the adult ______ when the
adults asks her to “show me the modi.”
Intends the novel object
Simply = Is referring to the unfamiliar object on the table rather than the familiar one
At what age do children understand that a novel referent refers to the object an adult is looking for rather than objects they have rejected?
a. 5 years old
b. 2 years old
c. 4 years old
d. 3 years old
b. 2 years old
2-year-olds understand that a novel referent refers to the object an adult is looking for rather than …?
The objects they
have rejected
Children are able to
interpret the adult’s anticipation of what will
happen and learn verbs which relate to forthcoming action
This is known as..?
Acquisition of verbs
How can infants acquire the knowledge of verbs?
Children are able to
interpret an adult’s anticipation of what will
happen and learn verbs which relate to
forthcoming action
Children can differentiate between intended and accidental actions when …?
Learning new verbs
When learning new verbs, children can differentiate between ____ and ____
Intended and accidental actions
What are the 2 issues with the social-pragmatic approach?
1) What kinds of inferential skills does the child bring to the task of language acquisition?
2) Can this process of learning account for the acquisition of complex syntax?
1) What kinds of inferential skills does the child bring to the task of language acquisition?
2) Can this process of learning account for the acquisition of complex syntax?
These are 2 main issues for …?
The social-pragmatic approach
Learning can be affected by 3 factors
What are they?
1) Cognitive
2) Social
3) Environmental factors
True or False?
Language learning is isolated
False
Language learning is not isolated
True or False?
Children do not show key patterns in how they use
language
Children show key patterns in how they use language
True or False?
Children have access to a variety of sources of information when learning word meanings
True
Children show key patterns in how they use language
List 2 key patterns
1) Comprehension precedes production
2) Early noun bias
What are the 3 main critical evaluations for infant word learning studies?
1) It is unclear when different information is used at different stages of development.
2) Would we expect the same strategies across
languages and cultures?
3) How do children learn less salient words (e.g., the) or words that are more abstract (e.g., happiness, justice)?
What are the 3 main theories that try to explain how children learn word meaning?
1) Innate Constraints
2) Structural Cues in Language
3) The Social-Pragmatic Approach
1) Innate Constraints
2) Structural Cues in Language
3) The Social-Pragmatic Approach
What do these theories explain?
How children learn word meaning
