Conceptual precursors to language. Export

@article{citeulike:423281, abstract = {Because human languages vary in sound and meaning, children must learn which distinctions their language uses. For speech perception, this learning is selective: initially infants are sensitive to most acoustic distinctions used in any language, and this sensitivity reflects basic properties of the auditory system rather than mechanisms specific to language; however, infants' sensitivity to non-native sound distinctions declines over the course of the first year. Here we ask whether a similar process governs learning of word meanings. We investigated the sensitivity of 5-month-old infants in an English-speaking environment to a conceptual distinction that is marked in Korean but not English; that is, the distinction between 'tight' and 'loose' fit of one object to another. Like adult Korean speakers but unlike adult English speakers, these infants detected this distinction and divided a continuum of motion-into-contact actions into tight- and loose-fit categories. Infants' sensitivity to this distinction is linked to representations of object mechanics that are shared by non-human animals. Language learning therefore seems to develop by linking linguistic forms to universal, pre-existing representations of sound and meaning.}, address = {Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, USA. s.hespos@vanderbilt.edu}, author = {Hespos, S. J. and Spelke, E. S.}, citeulike-article-id = {423281}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature02634}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15269769}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=15269769}, doi = {10.1038/nature02634}, issn = {1476-4687}, journal = {Nature}, keywords = {categorization, concepts, language}, month = {July}, number = {6998}, pages = {453--456}, posted-at = {2005-12-08 17:37:14}, priority = {3}, title = {Conceptual precursors to language.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature02634}, volume = {430}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:423281 L3 - citeulike-article-id:423281 N2 - Because human languages vary in sound and meaning, children must learn which distinctions their language uses. For speech perception, this learning is selective: initially infants are sensitive to most acoustic distinctions used in any language, and this sensitivity reflects basic properties of the auditory system rather than mechanisms specific to language; however, infants' sensitivity to non-native sound distinctions declines over the course of the first year. Here we ask whether a similar process governs learning of word meanings. We investigated the sensitivity of 5-month-old infants in an English-speaking environment to a conceptual distinction that is marked in Korean but not English; that is, the distinction between 'tight' and 'loose' fit of one object to another. Like adult Korean speakers but unlike adult English speakers, these infants detected this distinction and divided a continuum of motion-into-contact actions into tight- and loose-fit categories. Infants' sensitivity to this distinction is linked to representations of object mechanics that are shared by non-human animals. Language learning therefore seems to develop by linking linguistic forms to universal, pre-existing representations of sound and meaning. IS - 6998 JF - Nature SN - 1476-4687 AD - Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, USA. s.hespos@vanderbilt.edu EP - 456 TI - Conceptual precursors to language. VL - 430 SP - 453 KW - categorization KW - concepts KW - language AU - Hespos, SJ AU - Spelke, ES PY - 2004/07/22/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature02634 ER -