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ERIC Number: EJ1008102
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jun
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
How Yellow Is Your Banana? Toddlers' Language-Mediated Visual Search in Referent-Present Tasks
Mani, Nivedita; Johnson, Elizabeth; McQueen, James M.; Huettig, Falk
Developmental Psychology, v49 n6 p1036-1044 Jun 2013
What is the relative salience of different aspects of word meaning in the developing lexicon? The current study examines the time-course of retrieval of semantic and color knowledge associated with words during toddler word recognition: At what point do toddlers orient toward an image of a yellow cup upon hearing color-matching words such as "banana" (typically yellow) relative to unrelated words (e.g., "house")? Do children orient faster to semantic matching images relative to color matching images, for example, orient faster to an image of a cookie relative to a yellow cup upon hearing the word "banana"? The results strongly suggest a prioritization of semantic information over color information in children's word-referent mappings. This indicates that even for natural objects (e.g., food, animals that are more likely to have a prototypical color), semantic knowledge is a more salient aspect of toddler's word meaning than color knowledge. For 24-month-old Dutch toddlers, bananas are thus more edible than they are yellow. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org/publications
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A