The development of perceptual grouping biases in infancy: a Japanese-English cross-linguistic study.
Perceptual grouping has traditionally been thought to be governed by innate, universal principles. However, recent work has found differences in Japanese and English speakers' non-linguistic perceptual grouping, implicating language in non-linguistic perceptual processes (Iversen, Patel, & Ohgushi, 2008). Two experiments test Japanese- and English-learning infants of 5-6 and 7-8 months of age to explore the development of grouping preferences. At 5-6 months, neither the Japanese nor the English infants revealed any systematic perceptual biases. However, by 7-8 months, the same age as when linguistic phrasal grouping develops, infants developed non-linguistic grouping preferences consistent with their language's structure (and the grouping biases found in adulthood). These results reveal an early difference in non-linguistic perception between infants growing up in different language environments. The possibility that infants' linguistic phrasal grouping is bootstrapped by abstract perceptual principles is discussed.
Yoshida
Katherine A
KA
New York University, Department of Psychology, 6 Washington Place, New York NY 10003 USA. katherine.yoshida@nyu.edu
Iversen
John R
JR
Patel
Aniruddh D
AD
Mazuka
Reiko
R
Nito
Hiromi
H
Gervain
Judit
J
Werker
Janet F
JF
D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003463:Cues; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011578:Psycholinguistics