Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
Published on: April 19, 2017
Experience-Driven Semantic Differentiation: Effects of a Naturalistic Experience on Within- and Across-Domain
Catarina Vales1, Sarah L States2, Anna V Fisher1
1Carnegie Mellon University.
Abstract:
Organized semantic networks reflecting distinctions within and across domains of knowledge are critical for higher-level cognition. Thus, understanding how semantic structure changes with experience is a fundamental question in developmental science. This study probed changes in semantic structure in 4-6 year-old children (N = 29) as a result of participating in an enrichment program at a local botanical garden. This study presents the first direct evidence that (a) the accumulation of experience with items in a domain promoted increases in both within- and across-domain semantic differentiation, and that (b) this experience-driven semantic differentiation generalized to nonexperienced items. These findings have implications for understanding the role of experience in building semantic networks, and for conceptualizing the contribution of enrichment experiences to academic success.
More Related Videos
07:31Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms
Published on: February 8, 2019
08:17A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential ERP Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Published on: April 12, 2018
Related Concept Videos
The Nativist Approach
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Language Development
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...
Naturalistic Observations
Three Developmental Domains
Physical Development
Physical processes, also known as maturation, encompass the biological changes that occur across an individual's life. These changes begin with genetic inheritance and continue through various stages, including growth in height and weight,...
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
Exploration...