Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025
05:35
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
7.0K
Cracking the code: Social and contextual cues to language input in the home environment
Stephanie A Custode1, Catherine Tamis-LeMonda2
1Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA.
Summary
Infants learn word meanings using social cues like gaze and touch during everyday routines. Contextual information, like room location, further helps infants distinguish between similar words.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Infants learn word meaning through social cues, primarily during joint attention.
- Existing research often uses controlled settings, which may not reflect real-world language acquisition challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how social and contextual cues aid infants in disambiguating word meaning in naturalistic home environments.
- To analyze the role of gaze, touch, and location in everyday naming events.
Main Methods:
- Video recordings of 40 mother-infant dyads during home routines.
- Coding of over 3,000 "naming events" for social (visual, manual) and contextual (room, place) cues.
- Analysis of mother and infant visual and tactile attention patterns during naming.
Main Results:
- Social cues (gaze, touch) and contextual cues (location) were consistently present during naming events.
- Mothers frequently named objects specific to the room and place.
- Both mother and infant visual and tactile attention regularly accompanied naming.
Conclusions:
- Nested social and contextual cues are integral to infants' daily language learning.
- These cues help infants overcome the challenge of word segmentation and meaning disambiguation in complex environments.
Related Concept Videos
01:21Impact of Social Context on Individuals
201
Social psychology examines how the real or imagined presence of others influences individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. A key concept in this field is the role of social context in shaping behavior. The same individual may act differently depending on the social setting, due to the varying expectations and norms associated with each environment. This context-dependent behavior illustrates the influence of social roles, which prescribe appropriate conduct in specific situations.Social...
201
01:22Language Development
705
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...
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...
705
01:29Non-Verbal Cues
170
Non-verbal communication extends beyond gestures and facial expressions to include vocal elements known as paralanguage. Paralanguage consists of non-verbal vocal cues such as pitch, loudness, speech rate, pauses, and non-verbal vocalizations like laughter, sighs, and moans. These elements not only accompany speech but also provide critical emotional and contextual information.The Role of Paralanguage in CommunicationParalanguage adds depth to spoken language by conveying emotions and...
170
01:27Language and Cognition
609
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.
609
01:22Vygotsky's Cognitive Development in Cultural Context
692
Lev Vygotsky, a pioneering Russian psychologist, developed a theory of cognitive development that centers on the influence of social and cultural factors. Unlike Jean Piaget, who emphasized the child's direct interaction with the physical world as key to development, Vygotsky argued that cognitive growth is an interpersonal process that unfolds within a cultural context. For Vygotsky, a child's learning cannot be separated from their social environment, which includes the values,...
692
02:10Social Scripts
10.2K
People tend to know what behavior is expected of them in specific, familiar settings. A script is a person’s knowledge about the sequence of events expected in a specific setting (Schank & Abelson, 1977). Essentially, scripts are a particular kind of schema, one containing default values for the features within an event. In the restaurant example, the script's features include the props (e.g., tables, menu, food, and money), the roles to be played (e.g., customer and waiter),...
10.2K