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Concept formation and its relation to word learning and use in the second year*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Joan Lucariello
Joan Lucariello*
Affiliation:
City University of New York Graduate Center
*
Graduate Faculty, Department of Psychology, New School for Social Research, 65 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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Abstract

Developmental differences in object word learning and use were investigated. Two groups of infant speakers: Beginner (vocabularies under 50 words) and Advanced (vocabularies over 50 words), participated in a concept formation and word learning and generalization experiment. Results indicated that both speaker groups formed concepts of and learned words for the to-be-learned objects, and generalized these words. However, Advanced speakers learned more concepts and words, and engaged in broader generalization than Beginner speakers. The following variables did not account for these developmental differences: child age, object permanence development, maternal speech, child action on objects. These findings can be explained by developmental differences in both the number and kind of object concepts formed in the second year. Words were primarily acquired for object concepts by both speaker groups. However, Beginner speakers formed fewer concepts, thus having a less extensive conceptual base supporting word learning. This may account for their lower levels of vocabulary acquisition. Additionally, Beginner speakers appear to form prototype/exemplar-based object concepts, leading to limited word extension, while Advanced speakers form featurally based object concepts, leading to broader extension.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 1987 , pp. 309 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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Footnotes

*

This research was supported by NSF Grant No. BNS-8208904 to Katherine Nelson, and was part of a dissertation submitted to the faculty of the City University of New York in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy. Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Toronto, Canada, April 1985. I would especially like to thank Katherine Nelson for her critical guidance, interest and support throughout the course of this work. I would also like to thank Joe Click, Amy Kyratzis, Jerome Bruner, Harry Beilin, John Dore, David Rindskopf, and an anonymous referee, for many useful suggestions and insights.

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