240 research outputs found
A Really Good Example Helps Learning About an Abstract Concept
University students are often asked to learn abstract concepts. Abstract concepts are hard to learn. Giving specific examples can help learning abstract concepts. These examples might limit understanding to the similarities between the abstract domain and particular examples. The primary purpose of this study was to test whether exposure to multiple examples would lead to better learning than exposure to a single example. Secondarily, we were interested in whether there was any particularly effective example. Introductory psychology students were invited to learn about the abstract concept of semiotics, through either 1) three of five distinct examples or 2) a single example presented three times. We assessed learning through definitions, transfer to a novel example, and self-report. The results showed no support for the hypothesis that exposure to multiple examples led to better learning. There was, however, one particular example that was more memorable and resulted in better learning. These results have implications about how best to teach abstract concepts
Large constituent families help children parse compounds
The family size of the constituents of compound words, or the number of compounds sharing the constituents, has been shown to affect adultsā access to compound words in the mental lexicon. The present study was designed to see if family size would affect childrenās segmentation of compounds. Twenty-five English-speaking children between 3;7 and 5;9 were asked to explain the meaning of existing compounds with constituents of varying family size to an alien puppet. The results showed that children were more likely to mention the modifier of compounds if they came from large constituent families than if they came from small constituent families. Other variables were also shown to have some, but smaller effects on childrenās parsing, including the frequency of the constituent words and the compounds, whether the compounds were already known, and age. These results suggest that childrenās segmentation of compounds might be facilitated by analogy with other compounds already in their vocabularies
French-English bilingual childrenās motion event communication shows crosslinguistic influence in speech but not gesture
Bilinguals sometimes show crosslinguistic influence from one language to another while speaking (or gesturing). Adult bilinguals have also shown crosslinguistic influence in gestures as well as speech, suggesting an underlying conceptualization that is similar for both languages. The primary purpose of the present study is to test if the same is true of simultaneous French-English bilingual children in speaking and gesturing about motion. If so, they might show different patterns from both French and English monolinguals. Furthermore, we examined whether there were developmental changes between early and middle childhood. French-English bilingual and French and English monolingual children watched two cartoons and described them. In speech, the bilinguals differed from the English monolinguals, using more lexicalizations of the Path of motion in token numbers but not in type. They did not differ from the French monolinguals. In gestures, all children used a majority of Path gestures. There were few age-related changes. We argue that in speech, the bilinguals conceptualize their two languages differently, but show some crosslinguistic influence due to processing. Gestures may not show this same pattern, because they serve to highlight the important parts of the discourse
Associative interference: The effect of contextual separation on learning word-pair associations
Childrenās preference for HAS and LOCATED relations: A word learning bias for nounānoun compounds
The present study investigates childrenās bias when interpreting novel nounānoun compounds (e.g. kig donka) that refer to combinations of novel objects (kig and donka). More specifically, it investigates childrenās understanding of modifierāhead relations of the compounds and their preference for HAS or LOCATED relations (e.g. a donka that HAS a kig or a donka that is LOCATED near a kig) rather than a FOR relation (e.g. a donka that is used FOR kigs). In a forced-choice paradigm, two- and three-year-olds preferred interpretations with HAS/LOCATED relations, while five-year-olds and adults showed no preference for either interpretation. We discuss possible explanations\ud
for this preference and its relation to another word learning bias that is based on perceptual features of the referent objects, i.e. the shape bias. We argue that children initially focus on a perceptual stability rather than a pure conceptual stability when interpreting the meaning of nouns
Mental health in Canadian children and adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and, coping and stress responses
In December 2019, the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic first emerged in China and quickly spread to other countries. Previous studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences have negatively impacted the mental health of adults. Individual differences such as personality could contribute to mental health. Furthermore, coping and responses to stress may affect an individualās response to the pandemic. In the past, studies have only investigated this relationship in adults. In the current study, we examine how personality traits (using the Five-Factor Model as our framework) and Coping and Response to COVID-19 stress are related to the mental health of Canadian children and adolescents during the pandemic. Using parent reports of 100 preschoolers and 607 6ā18-year-old children, we performed multiple regression analysis to explore how personality traits predict the effects of COVID-19 on mental health. The results showed that personality traits are associated with the mental health of Canadian youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. In preschoolers, Neuroticism and Agreeableness predicted the most mental health problems, and in 6-18-year-old children, Extraversion negatively predicted the most mental health problems. Also, Openness to Experience was the weakest predictor of mental health status in Canadian youth. These findings could be useful in understanding childrenās responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and could assist public health services delivering mental health services specifically tailored to childrenās personalities during and after this pandemic
The Directionality of the Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Skills: A Literature Review
It has been demonstrated that executive functions play a significant role in different aspects of the development of children. Development of language is also one of the most important accomplishments of the preschool years, and it has been linked to many outcomes in life. Despite substantial research demonstrating the association between executive function and language development in childhood, only a handful of studies have examined the direction of the developmental pathways between EF skills and language skills, therefore little is known about how these two constructs are connected. In this review paper, we discuss three possible directional relationships between EFs and language development throughout childhood. First, we discuss how EF might affect language functioning. Next, we discuss how language functioning might affect EF. Lastly, we consider other possible relationships between EF and language. Given that children with better EF and language skills are more likely to succeed in educational settings and demonstrate greater socialāemotional competencies, investigating the relationship between EF and language in the preschool period provides insight into mechanisms that have not been extensively studied. Furthermore, it could create new opportunities for designing effective and efficient interventions aimed at addressing EF and language deficits during the preschool period which could in turn influence later development
Phonological Development in the Early Speech of an Indonesian-German Bilingual Child
Current research in bilingual childrenās language development with one language dominant has shown that one linguistic system can affect the other. This is called Crosslinguistic Influence (CLI). This paper explores whether CLI is experienced by a bilingual child raised in two typologically distinct languages in terms of phonological development. It uses data from the study of a child simultaneously acquiring Indonesian and German between the ages of 12 months - 20 months, with Indonesian as the dominant language. The sound segments developed by the child showed universal tendencies, with the appearance of bilabials prior to alveolar sounds, followed by velar sounds. The sounds were produced mostly in the form of stops, nasals and glides. Three phonological processes were displayed by the child: substitution, assimilation and syllable structures. The front rounded vowel [Ź], which exists in German but not in the Indonesian sound system, was systematically replaced by the palatal approximant [j]. This approximant exists in the Indonesian sound system but not in the German phonemic inventory. This provides evidence that, in terms of phonological development, the child experienced CLI, but only for certain sound transfers
Language Dominance and Cognitive Flexibility in FrenchāEnglish Bilingual Children
Some studies have reported a cognitive advantage for bilingual children over monolinguals and other studies have not. One possible reason for these conflicting results is that the degree of cognitive flexibility is related to individual differences in language dominance and use. More balanced bilinguals who separate their languages by context might have to learn to reduce inter-language interference and therefore show greater cognitive flexibility. The goal of the present study was to test if language dominance is related to FrenchāEnglish bilingual childrenās cognitive flexibility, using three different measures of language dominance: (1) parental reports of dominance, (2) relative scores on vocabulary tests, and (3) knowledge of translation equivalents. We also included two measures of language use: (1) living in a bilingual community (Montreal) or a monolingual community (Edmonton) and (2) language separation. Sixty-two FrenchāEnglish bilingual between 46 and 85 months of age participated. Childrenās cognitive flexibility was assessed using the Advanced Dimensional Change Card Sort task. Childrenās language knowledge and use was assessed in both French and English using a battery of tests. The results showed that none of the measures of language dominance or language use predicted cognitive flexibility. These results are inconsistent with the claim that individual differences in language dominance and use predict bilingualsā executive function s
How the parts relate to the whole: Frequency effects on children's interpretations of novel compounds
- ā¦