Late Talkers can generalise trained labels by object shape similarities, but not unfamiliar labels
- Location
- 52 Pritchatts Road 412, Zoom
- Dates
- Friday 17 January 2025 (12:00-13:00)
We will have our Psycholinguistic Seminar, Friday, 17th January from 12-1pm. The talk will be given by Dr Cecilia Zuniga-Montanez, Research Associate at the University of Sheffield.
Late talkers (LTs) tend to acquire language at a slower rate than their typically developing peers, which may stem from the absence of a typical word learning strategy used to generalise object labels by shape, known as the shape bias. In this study, we investigated if LTs can learn a shape bias and if this accelerates vocabulary learning. Fourteen LTs were randomly allocated to either a shape training group, which was taught that objects similar in shape have the same name, or a control group, which was taught real words without any focus on object shape. After seven training sessions, children in the shape training group generalised trained labels by shape but did not generalise unfamiliar labels. Children in the control group extended all labels randomly. No difference in vocabulary size was found between groups. Therefore, no evidence was found that a shape bias intervention facilitates word learning.
This is an online webinar that will be streaming via Zoom: attendees can view online, or watch collectively at 52 Prichatts Road, Room 412 (G9 on the campus map).
Zoom details:
Meeting ID: 812 6587 8494
Passcode: 167075
This talk is part of the ongoing Language and Cognition at Birmingham (LACAB) Psycholinguistics Seminar Series. Discover more information about LACAB and its upcoming events here.