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Cited by 502Language Development and DisordersChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentCategorization, perception, and language

Embodied attention and word learning by toddlers

Open access
Yu, Chen, Smith, Linda B.·2012·Cognition
DOI 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.06.016PMC PMC3829203
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Abstract

Many theories of early word learning begin with the uncertainty inherent to learning a word from its co-occurrence with a visual scene. However, the relevant visual scene for infant word learning is neither from the adult theorist's view nor the mature partner's view, but is rather from the learner's personal view. Here we show that when 18-month old infants interacted with objects in play with their parents, they created moments in which a single object was visually dominant. If parents named the object during these moments of bottom-up selectivity, later forced-choice tests showed that infants learned the name, but did not when naming occurred during a less visually selective moment. The momentary visual input for parents and toddlers was captured via head cameras placed low on each participant's forehead as parents played with and named objects for their infant. Frame-by-frame analyses of the head camera images at and around naming moments were conducted to determine the visual properties at input that were associated with learning. The analyses indicated that learning occurred when bottom-up visual information was clean and uncluttered. The sensory-motor behaviors of infants and parents were also analyzed to determine how their actions on the objects may have created these optimal visual moments for learning. The results are discussed with respect to early word learning, embodied attention, and the social role of parents in early word learning.

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  • Infants who performed effectively on a learning task showed stable patterns of fixation durations across the familiarisation period, whereas infants who performed less well had periods of shorter fixations.

    “they found that infants who performed effectively on a learning task showed stable patterns of fixation durations across the familiarisation period, whereas those infants who performed less well had periods of shorter fixations17.”

    From Shorter spontaneous fixation durations in infants with later emerging autism (2015) · cites this paper as [17]

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  1. Smith LB Yu C Pereira AF Not your mother’s view: The dynamics of toddler visual experience Developmental Science 2011 14 1 9 17 21159083 PMC3050020

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Authors
Yu, C., & Smith, L. B.
Affiliations
Indiana University (US)
Corresponding author
Yu, Chen
ORCID
Venue
Cognition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-11
Volume
125
Issue
2
Pages
244-262
ISSN
0010-0277 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.cognition.2012.06.016
PMC
PMC3829203
OpenAlex
W1984862412
Cited by
502
References
97
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 1
FWCI
42.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Cognition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Eye Institute (R21EY017843)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R21HD068475)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
Keywords
infant word learning, embodied attention, parent-infant interaction, head-mounted camera, sensory-motor behavior, toddlers, object naming
MeSH terms
Attention, Female, Humans, Infant, Language Development, Learning, Male, Parents, Play and Playthings, Speech, Visual Perception

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