Semantic Structure in Vocabulary Knowledge Interacts With Lexical and Sentence Processing in Infancy.
Although the size of a child's vocabulary associates with language-processing skills, little is understood regarding how this relation emerges. This investigation asks whether and how the structure of vocabulary knowledge affects language processing in English-learning 24-month-old children (N = 32; 18 F, 14 M). Parental vocabulary report was used to calculate semantic density in several early-acquired semantic categories. Performance on two language-processing tasks (lexical recognition and sentence processing) was compared as a function of semantic density. In both tasks, real-time comprehension was facilitated for higher density items, whereas lower density items experienced more interference. The findings indicate that language-processing skills develop heterogeneously and are influenced by the semantic network surrounding a known word.
Florida State University.
Arielle
A
Borovsky
California State University, Los Angeles.
Erica M
EM
Ellis
University of Texas at Dallas.
Julia L
JL
Evans
University of California, San Diego.
Jeffrey L
JL
Elman
D002675:Child, Preschool; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019359:Knowledge; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary