Who is crossing where? Infants’ discrimination of figures and grounds in events

Abstract

To learn relational terms such as verbs and prepositions, children must first dissect and process dynamic event components. This paper investigates the way in which 8- to 14-month-old English-reared infants notice the event components, figure (i.e., the moving entity) and ground (i.e., stationary setting), in both dynamic (Experiment 1) and static representations of events (Experiment 2) for categorical ground distinctions expressed in Japanese, but not in English. We then compare both 14- and 19-month-old English- and Japanese-reared infants’ processing of grounds to understand how language learning interacts with the conceptualization of these constructs (Experiment 3). Results suggest that 1) infants distinguish between figures and grounds in events; 2) they do so differently for static vs. dynamic displays; 3) early in the second year, children from diverse language environments form nonnative - perhaps universal - event categories; and 4) these event categories shift over time as children have more exposure to their native tongue.

Carving the World for Language: How Neuroscientific Research Can Enrich the Study of First and Second Language Learning

“…Research suggests that children have little problem discriminating and categorizing semantically relevant constructs from events (e.g., Gentner & Bowerman, 2009; Göksun et al, 2011; Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff, 2006; Lakusta et al, 2007; Pruden, Göksun, Roseberry, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2012; Pruden, Roseberry, Göksun, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2013; Pulverman, Song, Pruden, Golinkoff, & Hirsh-Pasek, 2013). In fact, infants appear to be attuned to event components that will be realized in language, even if that language is not their own.…”

“…The typical grounds for wataru are railroads, roads, or bridges. When the ground does not contain a barrier between two sides (e.g., a tennis court or grassy field), the verb tooru (i.e., go through ) is used (Göksun et al, 2011). Even though these verbs incorporate path information with the ground, the distinctions between the verbs are made based on the grounds.…”

“…Research shows that English-reared infants distinguish figures in dynamic events by 11 months of age (Göksun et al, 2011). English-reared infants also differentiate between non-native ground categories (e.g., a railroad vs. a grassy field) by 14 months of age (Göksun et al, 2011) and form categories of these relations by 14 months (Göksun, 2010).…”

“…English-reared infants also differentiate between non-native ground categories (e.g., a railroad vs. a grassy field) by 14 months of age (Göksun et al, 2011) and form categories of these relations by 14 months (Göksun, 2010). …”

“…Göksun and colleagues (2011) show that at 19 months of age, Japanese infants continue to attend to the distinction between waturu and tooru , whereas English infants, especially those with larger vocabularies, now ignore it (Göksun, 2010). Taken together, these studies suggest that the accumulation of vocabulary in the native language plays a pivotal role in heightening infants’ attention to native distinctions and dampening attention to nonnative distinctions.…”