A number of theorists have argued that the productive naming explosion results from advances in abilities that underlie language learning (e.g., the realization that words are symbols, changes in conceptual structure, or the onset of word learning constraints). If any of these accounts are accurate, there should be parallel developments in comprehension. To explore this issue, 4 studies assessed whether pre-and postnaming explosion children differ in their ability to learn a new word after limited exposure. Thirteen-and 18-month-olds heard a new object label just 9 times in a 5-min training session and then their comprehension was assessed in a multiple-choice procedure. Under favorable testing conditions, both 18-and 13-month-olds showed comprehension of the new word, even after a 24-hr delay. These results suggest that well before the productive naming explosion, children can learn a new object label quickly.

The authors examined whether aviation expertise reduces age differences in a laboratory task that was similar to routine air traffic control (ATC) communication. In Experiment 1, older and younger pilots and nonpilots read typical ATC messages (e.g., commands to change aircraft heading). After each message, they read back (repeated) the commands, which is a routine ATC procedure requiring short-term memory. Ss also performed less domain-relevant tasks. Expertise eliminated age differences in repeating heading commands, but did not reduce age differences for the less relevant tasks. In Experiment 2, expertise reduced but did not eliminate age differences in repeating heading commands from spoken messages. The results suggest that expertise compensates age declines in resources when the task is highly domain relevant.

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