do 9-month-old infants expect distinct words to refer to kinds? kathryn dewar
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Do 9-month-old Infants Expect Distinct Words to Refer to Kinds? Kathryn Dewar. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Do 9-month-old Infants Expect Distinct Words to Refer to
Kinds?
Kathryn Dewar
“Imagine a language with only proper names. A new word that names a dog must refer to that particular dog and nothing else. Learning this language would require the ability to track individuals over time, but it wouldn’t require any ability to generalize, to recognize how collies are different from terriers or how dogs are different from tables.
Such languages don’t exist, of course.” (Bloom, 2000)
Early Words: Proper Names or Count Nouns?
Proper names such as Fido refer to specific individuals
Count nouns such as dog refer to kinds of individuals or object categories
Controversial issue:Whether infants interpret these early words as
count nouns that refer to kinds or as proper names that refer to individual objects
What is the assumption of an early word-learner? Does this word refer to THAT (individual) object? (PN) Does this word refer to that KIND of object? (CN)
Are Early Words Proper Names that Designate Individuals?
• Locke: – At this early stage, children know only
proper names
• Anecdotal Evidence:– Only own rubber ducky is called duck
( label is not generalized to other members of the kind “duck”)
Are Early Words Count Nouns that Refer to Kinds?There are 3 lines of research used to
support this claim:Generalization StudiesCategorization StudiesObject Individuation Studies
While these studies are suggestive, ambiguity remains
Will a newly learned word for an object be extended to other members of the object’s kind?
Woodward, Markman, & Fitzsimmons (1994)13-month-olds & 18-month-olds• Children heard a new label 9 times in a 5 min
training session & their comprehension was later assessed
• Children generalized this newly learned label to novel exemplars of the training category
• Generalized to objects that differed in colourWhat about younger children?
Are Early Words Count Nouns that Refer to Kinds?
Generalization Studies
Are Early Words Count Nouns that Refer to Kinds?
Categorization Studies Does labeling objects with novel nouns highlight object categories?
Balaban & Waxman (1997)9-month-olds “A RABBIT”
Are Early Words Count Nouns that Refer to Kinds?
Categorization Studies Does labeling objects with novel nouns highlight object categories?
Balaban & Waxman (1997)9-month-olds• Familiarized to slides of animals (rabbits) while hearing either labeling information (word condition) or tones (tone condition)• On test trials, a new exemplar from the familiar category (a rabbit) was paired with a novel animal (a pig)Infants in the word condition showed greater attention to noveltyIt seems that the noun label facilitated categorization
A Brief Detour…Object Individuation StudiesThe process that assigns segregated
objects seen on different occasions to single or multiple objects.
Example: You see a dog at the park. The dog runs into the woods and a while later, a dog runs out of the woods
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Object Individuation StudiesXu & Carey (1996)
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-OR-
UNEXPECTEDEXPECTED
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Object Individuation StudiesXu & Carey (1996)
10-month-olds: did not look longer at the unexpected vs. the expected outcome– Did not use PROPERTY/KIND information to
conclude there was two distinct objects involved
12-month-olds: looked longer at the unexpected vs. the expected event– Did use PROPERTY/KIND information for
object individuation
Back on Track… Are Early Words Count Nouns that
Refer to Kinds? Object Individuation Studies Can language assist infants in the task of object individuation?Xu (2002):
9-month-olds• What if the objects were given distinctive
noun labels with each emergence?
Object Individuation StudiesXu (2002)
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-OR-
UNEXPECTEDEXPECTED
“Look, a DUCK!”
“Look, a BALL!”
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Are Early Words Count Nouns that Refer to Kinds?
Object Individuation StudiesXu (2002)Infants succeed at 9 months if given contrastive
labelsGiving the objects noun labels facilitates object
individuation
Xu suggests that the reason language helps is because distinct words refer to different KINDS of things2 distinct noun labels = 2 kinds of objectsBut, the evidence is also consistent with the
“early words as proper names” hypothesis
Early Words: PNs or CNs? Remaining questions from the
previous research…Did infants interpret the distinct words as referring to distinct kinds of objects (TYPES) or distinct individual objects (TOKENS)
Do they expect: 2 objects (could be identical, as long as there’s
2) 2 different objects (different in property? Or
kind?)
These are the very questions we address in the current set of studies
The Interactive Bit: What are Adults Expectations?
“I see a ZAV!I see a ZAV!”
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???
The Interactive Bit: What are Adults Expectations?
“I see a FEP!I see a WUG!”
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Study 1Questions to be addressed…. Do infants expect distinct labels refer to
different objects? -AND- Do infants expect one repeated label refers to
identical objects“I see a ZAV!”
“I see a ZAV!”
“I see a FEP!”
“I see a DAK!”
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Study 1 Procedure:Familiarizations
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Identical ObjectOutcome
Different ObjectOutcome
Study 1 Procedure:Familiarizations
8 familiarization trials: 4 identical object outcomes 4 different object outcomes
4 kinds of object-pairs shown: Familiarization trials 5-8 are a repeat of trials 1-4 The 4 object-pairs presented during familiarization are presented during the test trials The same object-pairs are used for both phases in order to:• Diminish the novelty of the object-pairs• Give infants a sense of what is inside the box (what they can expect to see)
Study 1 Procedure:Test Trials
“I see a FEP! I see a FEP!”QuickTime™ and a
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EXPECTEDoutcome
UNEXPECTEDoutcome
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ONE LABEL
Study 1 Procedure:Test Trials
“I see a DAX! I see a WUG!”
EXPECTEDoutcome
UNEXPECTEDoutcome
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TWO LABELS
Study 1: Experimental Design
EXPECTED UNEXPECTED
UNEXPECTED EXPECTED
ONE LABEL(Fep, Fep)
TWO LABELS(Dax, Wug)
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
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Study 1 Results:Familiarizations
12.61sSD = 4.91
14.04sSD = 6.03
Identical Objects
Different Objects
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n.s. t (23) = -1.14, p = .27
Study 1: Results
EXPECTED
5.41s (SD=3.57)
UNEXPECTED
11.20s (SD=10.04)
UNEXPECTED
10.02s (SD=7.86)
EXPECTED
8.38s (SD=9.53)
ONE LABEL(Fep, Fep)
TWO LABELS(Dax, Wug)
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
(n=24)
Study 1: Results
EXPECTED
5.41sUNEXPECTE
D
11.20sUNEXPECTE
D
10.02s
EXPECTED
8.38s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
IDENTICALOBJECTSDIFFERENT
OBJECTS
No Main Effect of number of labels (one vs two) f (1,23) = 2.58, p = .12
No Main Effect of object outcome (identical vs different)
f (1,23) = .49, p = .49Interaction between number of labels & object outcome
f (1, 23) = 5.06, p = .03
Paired-sample t-testsWilcoxon signed ranks test
t (1, 23) = -2.93, p < .01t (1, 23) = 1.13, p = .14p = .02 p = .05 (1 tailed)
Study 1What is still not yet known…
In this first study: Pairs of objects were either identical or
completely different dissimilar colour, shape, texture, material, etc
However…
For the different object pair: Are all property differences created equal?
Is any dissimilarity between the “different objects” sufficient?
Must the objects simply be different in some respect or is the way in which the objects differ important?
Why all property differences might NOT be created equal Different words are used to designate
different KINDS of things Objects differing along a property dimension
that does not effect kind membership are not given distinct labels
However, the property difference of SHAPE is closely connected with kind membership (Rosch et al., 1976; Soja, Carey & Spelke, 1991)
Generally speaking, objects that differ in shape are usually different kinds of things & are marked by different labels
Predictions… Hearing two distinct labels should suggest
two different kinds of objects in the box
Infants will look longer to the unexpected outcomes if:– The property difference between the objects
implies a difference in kind (e.g. SHAPE)
Infants will NOT look longer to the unexpected outcome if:– The property difference between the objects does
NOT imply a difference in kind membership (e.g. COLOUR)
Study 2: SHAPE
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Study 2: SHAPE
Used the same procedure as Study 1, except objects were either:Identical --or--Identical in every property but SHAPE
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“I see a ZAV!I see a ZAV!”
“I see a FEP!I see a WUG!”
Study 2 Procedure:Test Trials
“I see a ZAV! I see a ZAV!”
EXPECTEDoutcome
UNEXPECTEDoutcome
ONE LABEL
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Study 2 Procedure: Test Trials
“I see a DAX! I see a WUG!”
EXPECTEDoutcome
UNEXPECTEDoutcome
TWO LABELS
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Study 2: Experimental Design
EXPECTED UNEXPECTED
UNEXPECTED EXPECTED
ONE LABEL(Fep, Fep)
TWO LABELS(Dax, Wug)
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS QuickTime™ and a
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Study 2 Results:
Familiarizations
12.93sSD = 3.75s
12.52sSD = 3.42s
Identical Objects
Different Objects
n.s.
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t (15) = .44, p = .66
Study 2: Results
EXPECTED
6.89s (SD=3.41)
UNEXPECTED
10.04s (SD=8.84)
UNEXPECTED
10.34s (SD=6.06)
EXPECTED
5.72s (SD=3.72)
ONE LABEL(Fep, Fep)
TWO LABELS(Dax, Wug)
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
(n=16)
Study 2: Results
EXPECTED
6.89sUNEXPECTE
D
10.04sUNEXPECTE
D
10.34s
EXPECTED
5.72s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
IDENTICALOBJECTSDIFFERENT
OBJECTS
No Main Effect of number of labels (one vs two) f (1, 15) = .47, p = .51No Main Effect of object outcome (identical vs different)
f (1, 15) = .11, p = .75Interaction between number of labels & object outcome
f (1, 15) = 8.16, p = .01
Paired-sample t-tests
t (15) = -2.14, p = .02t (15) = 2.03, p = .03(1 tailed)
Study 2 (Shape): Discussion Results mirrored those of the first study (replication)
EXPECTED
8.38sUNEXPECTED
10.02s
UNEXPECTED
11.20sEXPECTED
5.41s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
EXPECTED
5.72sUNEXPECTED
10.34s
UNEXPECTED
10.04sEXPECTED
6.89s
ONE LABELTWO LABELSStudy 1 Study 2
Infants seem to expect that:A distinct (repeated) label denotes identical objectsTwo distinct labels denote two different (shaped) objects
Different-shaped objects pairs were equivalent to completely different object pairs
What we STILL do not know… Are all property differences created equal?• Shape differences between object pairs are just
as good as using totally different kinds of objectsShape differences are salient cues to kind membership
The results of the shape study are NOT enough!• Does not demonstrate that infants expect distinct
labels to refer to distinct KINDS Need to show that another property difference (that is
independent of kind membership) does not elicit this pattern of looking
Must demonstrate that not just any property difference between the object pairs will create this result
Returning to our Predictions…
Hearing two distinct labels should suggest two different kinds of objects in the box
Infants will look longer to the unexpected outcomes if:– The property difference between the objects
implies a difference in kind (e.g. SHAPE)
? Infants will NOT look longer to the unexpected outcome if:– The property difference between the objects does
NOT imply a difference in kind membership (e.g. COLOUR)
Study 3: COLOUR
Study 3: COLOUR
Used the same procedure as previous studies, except objects were either:Identical --or--Identical in every property but
COLOUR
“I see a ZAV!I see a ZAV!”
“I see a FEP!I see a WUG!”
Study 3 Procedure:Test Trials
“I see a ZAV! I see a ZAV!”
EXPECTEDoutcome
UNEXPECTED?outcome
ONE LABEL
Study 3 Procedure: Test Trials
“I see a DAX! I see a WUG!”
EXPECTED?outcome
UNEXPECTEDoutcome
TWO LABELS
Study 3: Experimental Design
EXPECTED UNEXPECTED
UNEXPECTED? EXPECTED?
ONE LABEL(Zav, Zav)
TWO LABELS(Dax, Wug)
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
Study 3 Results: Familiarizations
11.24sSD = 7.12
9.68sSD = 4.11
Identical Objects
Different Objects
n.s. t (15) = .92, p = .37
Study 3: Results
EXPECTED
6.83s (SD=6.04)
UNEXPECTED
6.09s (SD=4.15)
UNEXPECTED?
8.09s (SD=6.50)
EXPECTED?
10.31s (SD=8.93)
ONE LABEL(Zav, Zav)
TWO LABELS(Dax, Wug)
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
(n=16)
Study 3: Results
EXPECTED
6.83sUNEXPECTE
D
6.09sUNEXPECTE
D?
8.09s
EXPECTED?
10.31s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
IDENTICALOBJECTSDIFFERENT
OBJECTS
No Main Effect of number of labels (one vs two)f (1, 15) = .20, p = .66
Main Effect of object outcome (identical vs different) (p=.02)
f (1, 15) = 7.61, p = .02
6.46sSD = 4.22
9.20sSD = 6.24
No Interaction between number of labels & object outcomef (1, 15) = 1.88, p = .19
Study 3: Results This pattern of results differs from that of
Study 1 & Study 2
EXPECTED
8.38sUNEXPECTED
10.02s
UNEXPECTED
11.20sEXPECTED
5.41s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
EXPECTED
5.72sUNEXPECTED
10.34s
UNEXPECTED
10.04sEXPECTED
6.89s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
EXPECTED
10.31sUNEXPECTED
8.09s
UNEXPECTED
6.09sEXPECTED
6.83s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
Study 1Completely Different
Study 2Shape
Study 3Colour
Not just ANY property difference between the “different object pair” produces the expectation that the objects should be marked by distinct labels
A difference related to kind membership (SHAPE) produced the effectA difference unrelated to kind membership (COLOUR) did not
Returning to our Predictions Again…Hearing two distinct labels should suggest
two different kinds of objects in the box
Infants will look longer to the unexpected outcomes if:– The property difference between the objects
implies a difference in kind (e.g. SHAPE)
Infants will NOT look longer to the unexpected outcome if:– The property difference between the objects does
NOT imply a difference in kind membership (e.g. COLOUR)
Comparing All Three Studies Conducted a repeated-measures ANOVA with “study” as
the between-subjects factor There was a 3-way interaction (study X word X
outcome)
EXPECTED
8.38sUNEXPECTED
10.02s
UNEXPECTED
11.20sEXPECTED
5.41s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
IDENTICALOBJECTS
DIFFERENTOBJECTS
EXPECTED
5.72sUNEXPECTED
10.34s
UNEXPECTED
10.04sEXPECTED
6.89s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
EXPECTED
10.31sUNEXPECTED
8.09s
UNEXPECTED
6.09sEXPECTED
6.83s
ONE LABELTWO LABELS
Study 1Completely Different
Study 2Shape
Study 3Colour
Looking only at Study 1 & Study 2:– No three-way interaction (Result pattern is the same)
Looking only at Study 1 & Study 3:– Three-way interaction (Result pattern is different)
Looking only at Study 2 & Study 3:– Three-way interaction (Result pattern is different)
Familiarizations: Establishing Possible Object
Outcomes Study 1 & 2 (totally different & different-shape):– Object-pairs alternate between
identical and different kinds– Possible Outcomes: either pairs of the
same kind or pairs of different kinds of objects
– Labeling a CUE to which object outcome will be revealed
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Familiarizations: Establishing Possible Object Outcomes
Study 3 (different colour):–Different-colour pairs are seen as the same kind of objects–Here, both identical & different-colour pairs represent the SAME kind of object –Possible Outcome: pairs of the same kind of object–Labeling adds no predictive information –Looking-pattern reflects baseline preferences
Early Words: Proper Names or Count Nouns?
It’s been claimed that early nouns are:• Proper names (designate INDIVIDUALS) --as opposed to--• Count nouns that refer to object categories (KINDS)
If early labels simply pick out individuals:• You would not expect differential looking between
identical and different object outcomes (both represent 2 individuals)
• All three studies should have the same looking-time pattern
Early nouns are likely count nouns that refer to kinds
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Special Thanks to:Dr. Fei Xu
Laura KerlinVashti GarciaAnjula Joshi
Stephanie DenisonHenny Yeung