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Familiar Object Salience Affects Novel Word Learning
Author(s) -
Pomper Ron,
Saffran Jenny R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13053
Subject(s) - salience (neuroscience) , psychology , referent , salient , cognitive psychology , word learning , word (group theory) , object (grammar) , communication , linguistics , vocabulary , artificial intelligence , computer science , philosophy
Children use the presence of familiar objects with known names to identify the correct referents of novel words. In natural environments, objects vary widely in salience. The presence of familiar objects may sometimes hinder rather than help word learning. To test this hypothesis, 3‐year‐olds ( N  =   36) were shown novel objects paired with familiar objects that varied in their visual salience. When the novel objects were labeled, children were slower and less accurate at fixating them in the presence of highly salient familiar objects than in the presence of less salient familiar objects. They were also less successful in retaining these word‐referent pairings. While familiar objects may facilitate novel word learning in ambiguous situations, the properties of familiar objects matter.

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