title: Talking about the near and dear: Infants' comprehension of displaced speech.
abstract: The present research investigated the role of familiarity and proximity in infants' comprehension of displaced speech. When 13- and 16-month-old infants heard a researcher talk about a familiar person immediately after she left the room, they showed comprehension of the name by looking, pointing, or searching for the person in question. The majority of 16-month-olds were also able to reveal comprehension of the reference to the absent person after a 16-min delay, and they were able to respond to the name of an unfamiliar person as well. The 13-month-olds had more difficulty responding after the delay and to the name of a less familiar person. Thus, in the early phases of absent reference comprehension, infants' ability to respond to displaced speech can vary as a function of the temporal gap between the verbal reference and the last appearance of the referent, and of how strong their representation of the referent is.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Study, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. patricia.ganea@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ganea
authors.forename: Megan M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Saylor
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D013060:Speech