20-month-olds can use negative evidence while learning word meanings
Alex de Carvalho1, Isabelle Dautriche2
1Laboratoire de Psychologie du Développement et de l'Éducation de l'Enfant - LaPsyDÉ, La Sorbonne, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Paris, France.
Cognition
|May 16, 2025
Summary
Children can learn new words by understanding what words do not mean. Toddlers use negative evidence to learn word meanings, challenging existing language development theories.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Traditional models of language development focus on how children learn word meanings from positive evidence.
- The role of negative evidence in early word acquisition remains less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether young children can utilize negative evidence to learn novel word meanings.
- To challenge existing word learning theories by incorporating the concept of negative evidence.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted with 73 English-learning 20-month-old toddlers.
- Participants were exposed to novel words in both positive and negative contexts.
Main Results:
- Children demonstrated the ability to use negative sentences (e.g., "This is not a danu") to constrain the interpretation of a novel word ('danu').
- Findings indicate that negative evidence plays a role in toddlers' word learning process.
Conclusions:
- Word learning in children is not solely reliant on positive evidence.
- Current language development theories may need revision to fully account for the use of negative evidence in word acquisition.
Keywords:
Language acquisitionLexical developmentNegationOpen dataOpen materialsPreregisteredWord learningMore Related Videos
05:35Experience 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
6.6K
07:31Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms
Published on: February 8, 2019
6.6K
Related Concept Videos
01:22Language Development
329
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...
329
01:21The Nativist Approach
38
The nativist approach to infant cognitive development proposes that infants are born with inherent knowledge structures that allow them to interpret the world almost immediately. This perspective contrasts with earlier developmental theories, such as those proposed by Jean Piaget, which emphasized a more gradual acquisition of cognitive abilities through interaction with the environment. One key concept in this approach is object permanence — the understanding that objects continue to...
38
01:14Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
607
The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
607
01:14Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development
64
The preoperational stage, the second of Jean Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, spans approximately ages 2 to 7 and is characterized by the emergence of symbolic thinking. During this stage, children use language, images, and symbols to represent objects and concepts, enabling them to engage in imaginative and pretend play. This symbolic thinking supports children's ability to perform make-believe actions, such as imagining a broom as a horse or their hand as a phone,...
64
01:23Reinforcement
190
Positive and negative reinforcement are key concepts in operant conditioning, a learning process where the consequences of a behavior affect the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.
Positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior is followed by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus, increasing the frequency of that behavior. For example:
Positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior is followed by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus, increasing the frequency of that behavior. For example:
190