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Related Concept Videos

Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
Language01:16

Language

Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...
Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Observational Learning01:12

Observational Learning

Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning because...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
05:35

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

Action-effect learning in early childhood: does language matter?

Julia Karbach1, Jutta Kray, Bernhard Hommel

  • 1Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. j.karbach@mx.uni-saarland.de

Psychological Research
|September 18, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Labeling actions and their effects aids young children's learning of action-outcome relationships. Task-irrelevant speech hinders this learning, while task-relevant verbalization enhances action-effect integration.

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Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Language and Cognition

Background:

  • Language plays a crucial role in developing action control.
  • Understanding how verbal processes influence early learning is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of verbal processes on action-effect learning in 4-year-old children.
  • To determine if task-relevant or task-irrelevant verbalization affects the acquisition of action-outcome associations.

Main Methods:

  • Children (4-year-olds) participated in a key-pressing task with distinct sound effects.
  • Three conditions were tested: labeling actions/effects, verbalizing irrelevant words, and no verbalization.
  • A subsequent test phase assessed action-effect learning under consistent and inconsistent sound-key mappings.

Main Results:

  • Action-effect learning was observed when children labeled actions/effects or performed without verbalization.
  • Learning was impaired when children verbalized task-irrelevant words.
  • The strongest evidence for action-effect learning occurred with task-relevant verbal labeling.

Conclusions:

  • Task-relevant verbal labeling significantly supports action-effect learning in young children.
  • Verbalizing actions and their corresponding effects enhances the integration of event representations.
  • Task-irrelevant verbalization can interfere with the development of action control and learning.