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 and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

974
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.
974
Information Processing Approach01:30

Information Processing Approach

791
The information-processing theory of cognitive development centers on fundamental mental processes, including attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Researchers in this field examine how cognitive abilities, such as working memory, evolve and influence children's overall development. Studies indicate that children with stronger working memory tend to excel in reading comprehension, math, and problem-solving compared to peers with less efficient memory skills. Low working memory is...
791
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
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

4.1K
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...
4.1K
Learning Disabilities01:25

Learning Disabilities

739
Learning disabilities are cognitive disorders caused by neurological impairments that affect cognitive functions like language and reading, without indicating overall intellectual or developmental challenges. These disabilities differ from global intellectual or developmental disabilities as they are limited to distinct cognitive functions. Common learning disabilities include dysgraphia, dyslexia, and dyscalculia, each of which impacts unique aspects of learning.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a...
739
Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

1.3K
Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.
1.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Arousal may not be anything to get excited about.

Emotion review : journal of the International Society for Research on Emotion·2025
Same author

Efficacy of the CerveraTS Plate in an Integrated Approach to Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Long-Term Case Report.

Case reports in dentistry·2025
Same author

Failure is always an option: Children's production of truth-functional negation and its implications for learning.

Cognition·2025
Same author

Apprehending relational events: The visual world paradigm and the interplay of event perception and language.

Brain research·2025
Same author

TMD Patients With High Pain-Related Disability Have Higher Oral Behaviour Scores Than Individuals Without Pain and TMD Patients With Low Pain-Related Disability.

Journal of oral rehabilitation·2025
Same author

Lower canine autotransplantation using a 3D-printed donor tooth model.

Journal of clinical orthodontics : JCO·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 1, 2026

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
08:05

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Published on: June 30, 2020

8.2K

Taking your own path: Individual differences in executive function and language processing skills in child learners.

Kristina Woodard1, Lucia Pozzan1, John C Trueswell1

  • 1Department of Psychology and Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|October 11, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Children struggle to revise sentence interpretations, but cognitive flexibility aids this process. Domain-general executive functions, crucial for ambiguity resolution, vary significantly in developing children.

Keywords:
Cognitive FlexibilityCognitive developmentExecutive functionGarden path recoveryIndividual differencesSentence processing

More Related Videos

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
05:31

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

15.8K
Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery
11:25

Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery

Published on: October 11, 2010

16.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 1, 2026

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
08:05

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Published on: June 30, 2020

8.2K
Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
05:31

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

15.8K
Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery
11:25

Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery

Published on: October 11, 2010

16.4K

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Children aged 5-6 years exhibit difficulties in revising initial interpretations of sentences.
  • Individual differences exist in children's ability to recover from misinterpretations and achieve adult-like revision skills.
  • Understanding the cognitive underpinnings of sentence processing and revision is crucial for developmental research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between individual differences in children's ambiguity resolution and other cognitive abilities.
  • To identify specific cognitive functions supporting the revision of initial interpretive commitments in children.
  • To explore the role of executive functions and working memory in processing temporarily ambiguous sentences.

Main Methods:

  • Children (aged 5-6) completed tasks assessing executive functions, working memory, and language comprehension over two days.
  • Online and offline measures were used to assess children's ability to revise misinterpretations of ambiguous sentences.
  • Statistical analyses predicted sentence revision abilities based on performance on cognitive and linguistic tasks.

Main Results:

  • Cognitive flexibility, specifically two measured aspects, was significantly related to children's ambiguity resolution abilities.
  • Performance on executive function tasks predicted children's capacity to revise initial sentence interpretations.
  • Individual differences in cognitive flexibility correlate with the ability to resolve linguistic ambiguity.

Conclusions:

  • The capacity to revise initial interpretive commitments during sentence processing is supported by domain-general executive functions.
  • Executive functions supporting ambiguity resolution are highly variable among children and not fully developed.
  • Findings highlight the critical role of cognitive flexibility in developing language comprehension skills.