Abstract
Late talkers (LTs) exhibit delayed vocabulary development, which might stem from a lack of a typical word learning strategy to generalise object labels by shape, called the ‘shape bias’. We investigated whether LTs can acquire a shape bias and whether this accelerates vocabulary learning. Fourteen LTs were randomly allocated to either a shape training group (M age = 2.76 years, 6 males), which was taught that objects similar in shape have the same name, or a control group (M age = 2.61 years, 4 males), 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 (d = 1.28), but not unfamiliar labels. Children in the control group extended all labels randomly. Training did not affect expressive vocabulary.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Child Language |
Publication status | Accepted/In press - 23 Apr 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Not yet published as of 23/04/2024.Keywords
- shape bias
- late talkers
- vocabulary development
- noun generalisation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology