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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
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Preverbal infants produce more protophones with artificial objects compared to natural objects.
Violet Gibson1, Eszter Somogyi2, Iris Nomikou2
1Psychology Department, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. violet.gibson@port.ac.uk.
Scientific Reports
|June 20, 2023
Summary
Infants produced fewer speech precursors (protophones) with natural objects than with toys or household items. Artificial objects may better support early language development and evolution.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Evolutionary Anthropology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Protophones are considered precursors to speech and are crucial for language development.
- Research has primarily focused on toys' impact on protophone production.
- The influence of natural versus artificial objects on protophone production remains understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how natural objects, compared to artificial objects (household items, toys), affect protophone production in infants.
- To explore the implications for language skill development and the evolution of language.
Main Methods:
- Studied 58 infants (4-18 months) interacting with caregivers in Zambia.
- Recorded infants' protophone production with natural objects, household items, and toys.
- Analyzed object preference and caregiver responsiveness.
Main Results:
- Infants produced significantly fewer protophones with natural objects than with household items or toys.
- This effect was prominent in younger, preverbal infants.
- Infants showed a preference for household items over natural objects when both were available.
Conclusions:
- Natural objects are less effective in promoting protophone production and language development compared to artificial objects in preverbal infants.
- Infants' preference for artificial objects may stem from their designed functional features.
- Findings suggest complex tool use in social interactions could have driven language evolution in hominins.
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