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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
Published on: May 15, 2019
Two are better than one: Infant language learning from video improves in the presence of peers
Sarah Roseberry Lytle1, Adrian Garcia-Sierra2, Patricia K Kuhl3
1Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195; sarahr28@uw.edu.
Abstract:
Studies show that young children learn new phonemes and words from humans significantly better than from machines. However, it is not clear why learning from video is ineffective or what might be done to improve learning from a screen. The present study, conducted with 9-month-old infants, utilized a manipulation-touch screen video-which allowed infants to control presentations of foreign-language video clips. We tested the hypothesis that infant learning from a screen would be enhanced in the presence of a peer, as opposed to learning alone. Brain measures of phonetic learning and detailed analyses of interaction during learning confirm the hypothesis that social partners enhance learning, even from screens.
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