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Fast Mapping Across Time: Memory Processes Support Children's Retention of Learned Words
Haley A Vlach1, Catherine M Sandhofer
1Language and Cognitive Development Lab, Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Frontiers in Psychology
|March 1, 2012
Summary
Children rapidly forget newly learned words, challenging the idea of high retention in fast mapping. This forgetting actually aids long-term word learning and generalization.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Children's fast mapping ability allows rapid word-referent association.
- Existing literature suggests high retention of fast-mapped words over time.
- Domain-general memory processes influence early word acquisition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the retention of fast-mapped words in children and adults over immediate, 1-week, and 1-month delays.
- To compare word retention patterns with established forgetting functions in memory research.
- To explore the role of forgetting in supporting extended word mapping and generalization.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 216 children and 54 adults.
- Assessment of word mapping retention at three distinct time points: immediately, after 1 week, and after 1 month.
- Analysis of forgetting patterns in relation to domain-general memory processes.
Main Results:
- Learners, including children, demonstrate a rapid rate of forgetting fast-mapped words.
- Retention patterns observed in the study closely mirror known forgetting functions from general memory research.
- Contrary to prior characterizations, word mapping retention is not consistently high across timescales.
Conclusions:
- The study challenges the notion of consistently high retention in children's fast mapping.
- Forgetting is identified as a crucial component of memory that supports, rather than hinders, long-term word learning.
- Understanding forgetting mechanisms is vital for comprehending children's vocabulary acquisition and generalization processes.
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