Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Language Development01:22

Language Development

1.1K
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...
1.1K
Components of Language01:24

Components of Language

939
Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs.
939

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Mutually assured disruption: why LLMs change the game for child language acquisition research, and vice versa.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026
Same author

Capturing Joint Attention: Theoretical Foundations and Their Implications for the Link Between Joint Attention and Vocabulary Growth.

Infancy : the official journal of the International Society on Infant Studies·2026
Same author

Cognate Effects on Bilingual Lexical-Semantic Processing in Children: Insights from ERPs.

Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Why learners privilege word-order over case-marking: A cross-linguistic meta-analysis, new data from Estonian, Finnish and Polish, and a discriminative learning model.

Psychological review·2025
Same author

Constructing language: a framework for explaining acquisition.

Trends in cognitive sciences·2025
Same author

Caregivers Use Joint Attention to Support Sign Language Acquisition in Deaf Children.

Developmental science·2025
Same journal

Functional Neural Architecture of Working Memory in Musicians: An ALE Meta-Analysis and Review.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2026
Same journal

Collective Memory in Animals.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2026
Same journal

What Counts as an Environment in Memory Research? Conceptualizing Environment Across Memory Traditions.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2026
Same journal

Origins and Evolution of Imagination, From Australopithecus to Modern-Day Deep Learning.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2026
Same journal

Multilevel Perceptual-Motor Coupling: From Action Understanding to Execution.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2026
Same journal

Hope in Early Childhood: Novel Methodology for Measuring Hope in 5- and 6-Year-Olds.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
06:35

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

Published on: April 28, 2016

35.9K

Experimental methods in studying child language acquisition.

Ben Ambridge1, Caroline F Rowland1

  • 1University of Liverpool, Institute of Psychology, Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science
|August 26, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This review explores diverse methods for studying children's language acquisition, detailing their suitability, advantages, and disadvantages for different age groups and study types. It emphasizes crucial experimental design considerations for effective research.

More Related Videos

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking IPL: Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism
10:11

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking IPL: Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism

Published on: December 14, 2012

19.2K
Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
06:07

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

9.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
06:35

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

Published on: April 28, 2016

35.9K
Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking IPL: Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism
10:11

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking IPL: Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism

Published on: December 14, 2012

19.2K
Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
06:07

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

9.2K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Children's language acquisition is a complex field requiring robust research methodologies.
  • Understanding developmental processes necessitates careful selection and application of study techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide a comprehensive review of widely used methods in children's language acquisition research.
  • To outline the advantages and disadvantages of each method, considering age-appropriateness and study design.
  • To highlight key methodological considerations for experimental design in this field.

Main Methods:

  • Spontaneous/naturalistic observation, diary studies, and parental reports.
  • Elicited production, repetition, and syntactic priming techniques.
  • Comprehension tasks (act-out, pointing, preferential looking) and neuroimaging.
  • Grammaticality and truth-value judgment tasks.

Main Results:

  • Each method has specific applications, age-group suitability, and inherent limitations.
  • Effective research design involves age-appropriate tasks, participant motivation, and appropriate statistical analysis.
  • Considerations include within-/between-subjects designs, novel stimuli, fillers, presentation order, sample size, and control conditions.

Conclusions:

  • Selecting the right methodology is critical for valid and reliable findings in children's language acquisition.
  • Careful attention to experimental design details, from participant engagement to data analysis, enhances research quality.
  • This review serves as a guide for researchers navigating the methodological landscape of child language studies.