Overlooked Input for Word Learning: Examining the Role of Attention on Non-Target Objects During Object Labeling

Picture book reading is an important word learning context for children. Using eye-tracking methodology, we studied infants' attention to objects when parents named them. We took a novel perspective by examining the statistical regularities that are created when infants attend to the named target object and to non-target objects. We found that the objects infants attended to during parents' naming were more semantically similar to the named object. Furthermore, we observed a reinforcing loop between parents' naming and children's attention: When infants attended to non-target objects, parents were more likely to name this object shortly after, and this increased infants' gaze to the new target object. Moreover, the more adept parents were at naming the non-target objects their infants attended to, the higher their infants' overall attention levels during naming. Together, this study considers an often overlooked input for word learning, showing that attention to non-target objects may provide additional statistical regularities in space and time that infants can use to flexibly build word knowledge. The results also have implications for how parents can support word learning in book reading contexts and may contribute to the design of artificial intelligence that learns in more human-like ways.