Open AccessThe slow developmental time course of real-time spoken word recognition.
Author(s) -
Hannah Rigler,
Ashley FarrisTrimble,
Lea Greiner,
Jessica M. Walker,
J. Bruce Tomblin,
Bob McMurray
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.318
H-Index - 213
eISSN - 1939-0599
pISSN - 0012-1649
DOI - 10.1037/dev0000044
Subject(s) - psychology , word recognition , word (group theory) , language development , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , language acquisition , dynamics (music) , spoken word , spoken language , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics education , reading (process) , poetry , pedagogy
This study investigated the developmental time course of spoken word recognition in older children using eye tracking to assess how the real-time processing dynamics of word recognition change over development. We found that 9-year-olds were slower to activate the target words and showed more early competition from competitor words than 16-year-olds; however, both age groups ultimately fixated targets to the same degree. This contrasts with a prior study of adolescents with language impairment (McMurray, Samelson, Lee, & Tomblin, 2010) that showed a different pattern of real-time processes. These findings suggest that the dynamics of word recognition are still developing even at these late ages, and developmental changes may derive from different sources than individual differences in relative language ability.