Causal supports for early word learning

Abstract

What factors determine whether a young child will learn a new word? Although there are surely numerous contributors, the current investigation highlights the role of causal information. Three-year-old children (N = 36) were taught 6 new words for unfamiliar objects or animals. Items were described in terms of their causal or noncausal properties. When tested only minutes after training, no significant differences between the conditions were evident. However, when tested several days after training, children performed better on words trained in the causal condition. These results demonstrate that the well-documented effect of causal information on learning and categorization extends to word learning in young children.

Figure 1

Pictures and labels of novel artifacts and animals (Pokémon characters Hitmonlee, Breloom, Chinchou, Vibrava, Kabutops, and Venonat © Pokémon USA, Inc. Reprinted with permission.)

Figure 2

Mean proportion of trials on which the correct referent was chosen in each condition at initial and delayed testing.