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Developing knowledge of nonadjacent dependencies
Jennifer Culbertson1, Elena Koulaguina2, Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez2
1School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh.
Developmental Psychology
|November 29, 2016
Summary
Infants may develop language skills through distinct stages when learning subject-verb agreement in French. This study tracked 14- to 24-month-olds, revealing complex developmental patterns in dependency acquisition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science of Language
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Language acquisition involves learning dependencies between linguistic elements.
- Infants build complex representations as they gain language experience.
- Understanding early linguistic development is key to cognitive science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the early acquisition of subject-verb agreement in French-learning infants.
- To examine developmental changes in dependency acquisition between 14 and 24 months.
- To explore the relationship between general cognition and linguistic representational knowledge.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Headturn Preference Procedure (HPP) to assess infant language processing.
- Systematically tested infants at six distinct age intervals (14-24 months).
- Focused on the nonadjacent dependency of subject-verb agreement in French.
Main Results:
- Revealed a complex, multi-stage developmental trajectory for acquiring subject-verb agreement.
- Provided the first evidence for distinct developmental stages in this specific dependency.
- Demonstrated that infants' abilities change significantly within this age range.
Conclusions:
- Infant language acquisition, specifically dependency learning, progresses through identifiable stages.
- Changes in cognitive abilities and representational knowledge likely drive these developmental shifts.
- Close-interval longitudinal studies are crucial for understanding nuanced language development.
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