Word Learning Flashcards
(158 cards)
Why is word learning hard?
List 2 main reasons
1) Because things can’t just be “point and name”
2) The mapping problem
(+ Difficult to get the meaning right (under-extension and/or over-extension)
True or False?
Point and name is very common (and universal)
False
Point and name is not common (and not
universal)
When children usually point and name, what type of words to they mainly say?
Nouns
Define the mapping problem
When there is potentially an infinite number of possibilities for mapping between a word and potential referents
Simply = When a word can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
When there is potentially an infinite number of possibilities for mapping between a word and potential referents
Simply = When a word can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
This is known as…?
The mapping problem
What is the GAVAGAI problem?
A made up word by Quine (1960) used as an expression of a completely foreign language that is not easily translatable into a known language as it can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
A made up word by Quine (1960) used as an expression of a completely foreign language that is not easily translatable into a known language as it can mean a range of different things
e.g. Gavagai can mean dog, fast, brown, paw, ear etc
This is known as…?
GAVAGAI problem
Word learning is hard because children struggle to get the meaning of the word right.
Sometimes they express an under-extension of a word
What does this mean?
When the meaning they have for a word is too narrow compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean family dog but not other dogs they see
It’s as if the word “dog” is almost taken as a name and not as a word
When the meaning they have for a word is too narrow compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean family dog but not other dogs they see
It’s as if the word “dog” is almost taken as a name and not as a word
This is known as…?
Under-extension
Word learning is hard because children struggle to get the meaning of the word right.
Sometimes they express an over-extension of a word
What does this mean?
When the meaning they have for a word is too broad compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean any four-legged animal they see including pig, horse, lion
When the meaning they have for a word is too broad compared to the actual meaning of the word
e.g. “Dog” might mean any four-legged animal they see including pig, horse, lion
This is known as…?
Over-extension
Do children comprehend or produce words first?
Comprehend words
True or False?
Comprehension precedes production
True
______ -year-olds comprehend 2-3x as
many words as they produce
a. 5
b. 4
c. 3
d. 2
d. 2
2-year-olds comprehend _______ as many words as they produce
a. 2 - 3 times
b. 4 - 5 times
c. 10 - 12 times
d. 1 - 2 times
a. 2 - 3 times
Infants appear to start to
comprehend nouns as early as ____ months
a. 4
b. 5
c. 6
d. 7
c. 6
At 6 months old, what words do infants start to comprehend?
Nouns
Infants start to comprehend verbs
(e.g., eat, hug) at ____ months
a. 10
b. 12
c. 14
d. 16
a. 10
At 10 months, what words do infants start to comprehend?
Verbs
Do infants start to comprehend verbs or nouns first?
Nouns
Which sentence will most likely influence an infant to look at the object
- Look at the apple
- Look at that
- Look at the apple
Are infants more likely to look at a labelled object/image (e.g. “Look at that hand”) or an unlabelled object/image (e.g. “Look at this”)?
Labelled object/image (e.g. “Look at that hand”)
Between 18 and 24 months, infants get much faster on the ______ task
Looking while listening task
At what age range do infants get much faster on the look-while-listening task?
Between 18 and 24 months