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Related Concept Videos

Language Development01:22

Language Development

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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.
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According to George Herbert Mead, as children progress beyond the game stage, they develop a more comprehensive understanding of societal rules and norms. This cognitive and social development enables them to internalize the expectations of the broader community, refining their ability to regulate behavior.Consistent participation in organized activities is crucial in helping children recognize that their actions are not isolated but contribute to a more significant, interconnected group...
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Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development emphasizes the role of thinking in a child's learning process, suggesting that children are naturally curious about their environment. His approach to development is discontinuous, proposing that cognitive abilities progress through distinct stages, each with unique characteristics. Central to Piaget's theory is schemata—mental structures that allow individuals to understand and interpret the world.
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Language and Cognition01:27

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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.
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Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

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The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
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Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development01:14

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The preoperational stage, the second of Jean Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, spans approximately ages 2 to 7 and is characterized by the emergence of symbolic thinking. During this stage, children use language, images, and symbols to represent objects and concepts, enabling them to engage in imaginative and pretend play. This symbolic thinking supports children's ability to perform make-believe actions, such as imagining a broom as a horse or their hand as a phone, blending...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
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Young children's developing sensitivity to discourse continuity as a cue for inferring reference.

Alexandra C Horowitz1, Michael C Frank1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|October 4, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Children over three can use sentence order to learn new words, even without social cues. This study shows discourse structure aids word acquisition in young learners.

Keywords:
DevelopmentDisambiguationDiscourseLanguagePragmaticsWord learning

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Children often learn words when a new word is presented with its referent.
  • Social cues like pointing are typical aids in word learning.
  • Discourse structure may also play a role in inferring word meaning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if children use discourse structure to infer word referents without social cues.
  • To determine if temporal proximity alone is sufficient for word learning.
  • To explore the role of discourse position in early word acquisition.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1A: Embedded novel word labels between descriptions of two novel toys for children (2-6 years) and adults.
  • Experiment 1B: Placed novel word labels after toy descriptions to test temporal proximity.
  • Assessed participants' ability to attribute the novel label to the correct toy based on discourse structure or temporal cues.

Main Results:

  • Children older than 3 and adults correctly attributed the novel label to the toy whose descriptions surrounded the naming event in Experiment 1A.
  • Performance was near chance in Experiment 1B when the label followed descriptions, indicating temporal proximity was not the primary factor.
  • Results suggest reliance on discourse position over mere temporal association.

Conclusions:

  • Children aged 3+ can leverage discourse structure to infer word meanings.
  • Discourse position is a significant factor in word learning, independent of social cues.
  • This highlights the cognitive sophistication of children in utilizing linguistic context for vocabulary acquisition.