Infants' contribution to the achievement of joint reference

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Linguistics

Background:

• Infants' ability to establish joint reference is crucial for language acquisition.
• It remains debated whether infants passively map labels to their focus or actively use social cues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if infants use speaker's nonverbal cues to interpret novel labels.
• To determine if infants can avoid referential errors when cues conflict with their focus.

Main Methods:

• 16-19 month-old infants were exposed to novel labels in two conditions: follow-in labeling and discrepant labeling.
• Infants' comprehension was tested using subsequent questions.

Main Results:

• Infants successfully learned labels presented during follow-in labeling.
• Infants showed no mapping errors in the discrepant labeling condition, indicating they used the speaker's cues.

Conclusions:

• Infants as young as 16-19 months utilize nonverbal cues to understand label reference.
• This demonstrates infants' active contribution to social coordination in achieving joint reference.