Relating object memory to word learning: Data from a new test of toddlers' object recognition

Learning names for concrete objects, which dominate early vocabularies, relies on visual processes such as object recognition and memory for previously named objects. We examined the relation between memory for pairs of familiar and novel objects and early vocabulary development. We tested 52 14- to 24-month-olds (26 girls) in a preferential-looking object recognition task. Analysis of data from 44 toddlers suggested memory performance was based on whether the stimuli were from categories known to children in this age range and a vocabulary percentile score based on age and gender, rather than just age or total productive vocabulary. We found some evidence that toddlers with higher vocabulary percentile scores remembered familiar but not novel object pairs. We discuss possible reasons for differences in memory for familiar and novel objects, limitations of our task and how our findings fit with proposals on the relations between memory, visual processing and variability in vocabulary development.