Words (but not Tones) facilitate object categorization: Evidence from 6- and 12-month-olds

Anne L. Fulkerson; Sandra R. Waxman

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2006.09.005

Words (but not Tones) facilitate object categorization: Evidence from 6- and 12-month-olds

Anne L. Fulkerson^*, Sandra R. Waxman

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

180 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent studies reveal that naming has powerful conceptual consequences within the first year of life. Naming distinct objects with the same word highlights commonalities among the objects and promotes object categorization. In the present experiment, we pursued the origin of this link by examining the influence of words and tones on object categorization in infants at 6 and 12 months. At both ages, infants hearing a novel word for a set of distinct objects successfully formed object categories; those hearing a sequence of tones for the same objects did not. These results support the view that infants are sensitive to powerful and increasingly nuanced links between linguistic and conceptual units very early in the process of lexical acquisition.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	218-228
Number of pages	11
Journal	Cognition
Volume	105
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2006.09.005
State	Published - Oct 2007

Keywords

Categorization
Infancy
Object naming

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Language and Linguistics
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Linguistics and Language
Cognitive Neuroscience

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10.1016/j.cognition.2006.09.005

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title = "Words (but not Tones) facilitate object categorization: Evidence from 6- and 12-month-olds",

abstract = "Recent studies reveal that naming has powerful conceptual consequences within the first year of life. Naming distinct objects with the same word highlights commonalities among the objects and promotes object categorization. In the present experiment, we pursued the origin of this link by examining the influence of words and tones on object categorization in infants at 6 and 12 months. At both ages, infants hearing a novel word for a set of distinct objects successfully formed object categories; those hearing a sequence of tones for the same objects did not. These results support the view that infants are sensitive to powerful and increasingly nuanced links between linguistic and conceptual units very early in the process of lexical acquisition.",

keywords = "Categorization, Infancy, Object naming",

author = "Fulkerson, {Anne L.} and Waxman, {Sandra R.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by NIH Grant #HD045296 to Anne Fulkerson and NIH Grant #HD030410 to Sandra Waxman. We are indebted to the infants and parents who generously volunteered their participation, as well as to Jennifer Seymour, Kristin Szymanowski, and Julie Hupp for their assistance with data collection. We thank Jeff Lidz, Thomas Piccin, Erin Leddon, and Robert Haaf for their comments on previous drafts of this manuscript.",

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N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by NIH Grant #HD045296 to Anne Fulkerson and NIH Grant #HD030410 to Sandra Waxman. We are indebted to the infants and parents who generously volunteered their participation, as well as to Jennifer Seymour, Kristin Szymanowski, and Julie Hupp for their assistance with data collection. We thank Jeff Lidz, Thomas Piccin, Erin Leddon, and Robert Haaf for their comments on previous drafts of this manuscript.

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N2 - Recent studies reveal that naming has powerful conceptual consequences within the first year of life. Naming distinct objects with the same word highlights commonalities among the objects and promotes object categorization. In the present experiment, we pursued the origin of this link by examining the influence of words and tones on object categorization in infants at 6 and 12 months. At both ages, infants hearing a novel word for a set of distinct objects successfully formed object categories; those hearing a sequence of tones for the same objects did not. These results support the view that infants are sensitive to powerful and increasingly nuanced links between linguistic and conceptual units very early in the process of lexical acquisition.

AB - Recent studies reveal that naming has powerful conceptual consequences within the first year of life. Naming distinct objects with the same word highlights commonalities among the objects and promotes object categorization. In the present experiment, we pursued the origin of this link by examining the influence of words and tones on object categorization in infants at 6 and 12 months. At both ages, infants hearing a novel word for a set of distinct objects successfully formed object categories; those hearing a sequence of tones for the same objects did not. These results support the view that infants are sensitive to powerful and increasingly nuanced links between linguistic and conceptual units very early in the process of lexical acquisition.

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Words (but not Tones) facilitate object categorization: Evidence from 6- and 12-month-olds

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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