Date of Award
1-1993
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Kenneth Roberts
Second Advisor
Joe Davis
Third Advisor
Joseph C. LaVoie
Abstract
The facilitative role of linguistic input on nonlinguistic categorization is frequently explained in terms of children's attention to uniquely linguistic forms such as words. In the three experiments reported here, 15-month-old infants were familiarized to visual stimuli in the context of hearing either adult-directed speech (ADS) or child-directed speech (CDS) during visual fixations. Categorization was successful with CDS and ADS input when accumulated attention was not constrained (Experiment 1). Moreover, there were no differences in accumulated attention as a function of input type. When attention was constrained to 90 seconds (Experiments 2 and 3), ADS input disrupted categorization more for female than male subjects. This disruption is not predicted by current constraints/biases accounts and suggests that a psychologically real noun-category bias may not be present prior to the vocabulary explosion.
Recommended Citation
Schumacher, Jean M., "The effects of child-directed speech vs adult-directed speech on attention and categorization in prelinguistic infants" (1993). Student Work. 265.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/265