Twelve-month-old infants recognize that speech can communicate unobservable intentions

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Linguistics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Knowledge acquisition often relies on social transmission rather than direct experience.
• Speech is a primary vehicle for rapid information transfer, including unobservable concepts.
• Understanding if infants link speech to unobservable mental states like intentions is key.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether 12-month-old infants recognize speech's communicative function regarding unobservable intentions.
• To determine if infants differentiate between speech and nonspeech vocalizations in conveying intentional information.

Main Methods:

• Infants observed a 'Communicator' fail an action (stacking rings).
• The Communicator then used speech or nonspeech vocalizations towards a 'Recipient' who missed the attempts.
• Infants' looking times were measured across three outcomes: intended, observable, and related.

Main Results:

• Infants looked longer at observable and related outcomes than the intended outcome when speech was used.
• When nonspeech vocalizations were used, infants showed equal looking times across all outcomes.
• This indicates infants associate speech with communicating unobservable intentions.

Conclusions:

• Twelve-month-olds understand that speech can convey information about internal mental states, such as intentions.
• Speech serves as a crucial tool for preverbal infants to gain knowledge beyond their immediate sensory experiences.
• This finding highlights the early-developing role of language in social cognition and learning.