Abstract
Infants differ substantially in their rates of language growth, and slow growth predicts later academic difficulties. In this study, we explored how the amount of speech directed to infants in Spanish-speaking families low in socioeconomic status influenced the development of children's skill in real-time language processing and vocabulary learning. All-day recordings of parent-infant interactions at home revealed striking variability among families in how much speech caregivers addressed to their child. Infants who experienced more child-directed speech became more efficient in processing familiar words in real time and had larger expressive vocabularies by the age of 24 months, although speech simply overheard by the child was unrelated to vocabulary outcomes. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of child-directed speech on expressive vocabulary was explained by infants' language-processing efficiency, which suggests that richer language experience strengthens processing skills that facilitate language growth.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2143-2152 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Psychological Science |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2013 |
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Keywords
- cognitive processes
- environmental effects
- individual differences
- language development
- poverty
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
Cite this
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Talking to Children Matters : Early Language Experience Strengthens Processing and Builds Vocabulary. / Weisleder, Adriana; Fernald, Anne.
In: Psychological Science, Vol. 24, No. 11, 01.11.2013, p. 2143-2152.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Talking to Children Matters
T2 - Early Language Experience Strengthens Processing and Builds Vocabulary
AU - Weisleder, Adriana
AU - Fernald, Anne
PY - 2013/11/1
Y1 - 2013/11/1
N2 - Infants differ substantially in their rates of language growth, and slow growth predicts later academic difficulties. In this study, we explored how the amount of speech directed to infants in Spanish-speaking families low in socioeconomic status influenced the development of children's skill in real-time language processing and vocabulary learning. All-day recordings of parent-infant interactions at home revealed striking variability among families in how much speech caregivers addressed to their child. Infants who experienced more child-directed speech became more efficient in processing familiar words in real time and had larger expressive vocabularies by the age of 24 months, although speech simply overheard by the child was unrelated to vocabulary outcomes. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of child-directed speech on expressive vocabulary was explained by infants' language-processing efficiency, which suggests that richer language experience strengthens processing skills that facilitate language growth.
AB - Infants differ substantially in their rates of language growth, and slow growth predicts later academic difficulties. In this study, we explored how the amount of speech directed to infants in Spanish-speaking families low in socioeconomic status influenced the development of children's skill in real-time language processing and vocabulary learning. All-day recordings of parent-infant interactions at home revealed striking variability among families in how much speech caregivers addressed to their child. Infants who experienced more child-directed speech became more efficient in processing familiar words in real time and had larger expressive vocabularies by the age of 24 months, although speech simply overheard by the child was unrelated to vocabulary outcomes. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of child-directed speech on expressive vocabulary was explained by infants' language-processing efficiency, which suggests that richer language experience strengthens processing skills that facilitate language growth.
KW - cognitive processes
KW - environmental effects
KW - individual differences
KW - language development
KW - poverty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887327598&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84887327598&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0956797613488145
DO - 10.1177/0956797613488145
M3 - Article
C2 - 24022649
AN - SCOPUS:84887327598
VL - 24
SP - 2143
EP - 2152
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
SN - 0956-7976
IS - 11
ER -