Imitating the Robots: Measuring Memory Flexibility with Monolingual and Bilingual Preschoolers

Millions of children in the United States are growing up hearing multiple languages. Memory flexibility is the ability to apply information from a past experience to future situations that are perceptually different from the initial learning experience and differs between monolinguals and bilinguals during infancy. We use a new, non-verbal object sequencing imitation task (OSI) to measure memory flexibility changes in monolingual and bilingual preschoolers. In the OSI task, children imitate target actions to produce a final pose on a robot figure. Children are tested with different robots than those used to demonstrate the target actions to test memory flexibility. We hypothesized that both monolingual and bilingual children would imitate the sequences significantly above baseline, but bilingual preschoolers would do so at a greater rate than their monolingual peers. To test this hypothesis, we visited 101 3-year-olds in their homes. An experimenter demonstrated 2- to 5-step sequences on one robot, and children were tested on a functionally similar but perceptually different robot. All preschoolers performed significantly above baseline on the total composite percentage score (the correct number of movements and pairs summed across all sequences, divided by the possible maximum score). There were no significant differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in baseline and test trials. We repeated the same pattern of results using a multi-level model, including all trials. The common binary classification of bilinguals and monolinguals often does not adequately describe the complex experience of growing up in a bilingual environment. Modeling the heterogeneity that arises from growing up in a bilingual home is important for understanding how this arrangement could impact an individual’s cognitive development. To consider such heterogeneity, we implemented latent profile modeling to identify language groups based on a series of variables such as L2, L3 exposure, speakers’ nativeness to the languages, and speakers’ proficiency and identified three profiles (low, medium, and high multilingual exposure). The pattern of results remained the same. We conclude that memory flexibility differences exhibited during infancy may plateau during early childhood

Imitating the Robots: Measuring Memory Flexibility with Monolingual and Bilingual Preschoolers

Millions of children in the United States are growing up hearing multiple languages. Memory flexibility is the ability to apply information from a past experience to future situations that are perceptually different from the initial learning experience and differs between monolinguals and bilinguals during infancy. We use a new, non-verbal object sequencing imitation task (OSI) to measure memory flexibility changes in monolingual and bilingual preschoolers. In the OSI task, children imitate target actions to produce a final pose on a robot figure. Children are tested with different robots than those used to demonstrate the target actions to test memory flexibility. We hypothesized that both monolingual and bilingual children would imitate the sequences significantly above baseline, but bilingual preschoolers would do so at a greater rate than their monolingual peers. To test this hypothesis, we visited 101 3-year-olds in their homes. An experimenter demonstrated 2- to 5-step sequences on one robot, and children were tested on a functionally similar but perceptually different robot. All preschoolers performed significantly above baseline on the total composite percentage score (the correct number of movements and pairs summed across all sequences, divided by the possible maximum score). There were no significant differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in baseline and test trials. We repeated the same pattern of results using a multi-level model, including all trials. The common binary classification of bilinguals and monolinguals often does not adequately describe the complex experience of growing up in a bilingual environment. Modeling the heterogeneity that arises from growing up in a bilingual home is important for understanding how this arrangement could impact an individual’s cognitive development. To consider such heterogeneity, we implemented latent profile modeling to identify language groups based on a series of variables such as L2, L3 exposure, speakers’ nativeness to the languages, and speakers’ proficiency and identified three profiles (low, medium, and high multilingual exposure). The pattern of results remained the same. We conclude that memory flexibility differences exhibited during infancy may plateau during early childhood

The development of gaze following in monolingual and bilingual infants: A multi-lab study

Determining the meanings of words requires language learners to attend to what other people say. However, it behooves a young language learner to simultaneously attend to what other people attend to, for example, by following the direction of their eye gaze. Sensitivity to cues such as eye gaze might be particularly important for bilingual infants, as they encounter less consistency between words and objects than monolinguals, and do not always have access to the same word learning heuristics (e.g., mutual exclusivity). In a pre-registered study, we tested the hypothesis that bilingual experience would lead to a more pronounced ability to follow another’s gaze. We used the gaze-following paradigm developed by Senju and Csibra (2008) to test a total of 93 6–9 month-old and 229 12–15 month-old monolingual and bilingual infants, in 11 labs located in 8 countries. Monolingual and bilingual infants showed similar gaze-following abilities, and both groups showed age-related improvements in speed, accuracy, frequency and duration of fixations to congruent objects. Unexpectedly, bilinguals tended to make more frequent fixations to onscreen objects, whether or not they were cued by the actor. These results suggest that gaze sensitivity is a fundamental aspect of development that is robust to variation in language exposure

The Development of gaze following in monolingual and bilingual infants: A multi‐laboratory study

Determining the meanings of words requires language learners to attend to what other people say. However, it behooves a young language learner to simultaneously encode relevant non-verbal cues, for example, by following the direction of their eye gaze. Sensitivity to cues such as eye gaze might be particularly important for bilingual infants, as they encounter less consistency between words and objects than monolingual infants, and do not always have access to the same word-learning heuristics (e.g., mutual exclusivity). In a preregistered study, we tested the hypothesis that bilingual experience would lead to a more pronounced ability to follow another's gaze. We used a gaze-following paradigm developed by Senju and Csibra (Current Biology, 18, 2008, 668) to test a total of 93 6- to 9-month-old and 229 12- to 15-month-old monolingual and bilingual infants, in 11 laboratories located in 8 countries. Monolingual and bilingual infants showed similar gaze-following abilities, and both groups showed age-related improvements in speed, accuracy, frequency, and duration of fixations to congruent objects. Unexpectedly, bilinguals tended to make more frequent fixations to on-screen objects, whether or not they were cued by the actor. These results suggest that gaze sensitivity is a fundamental aspect of development that is robust to variation in language exposure.Individual participatin laboratories acknowledge funding support from: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (402470-2011; 2018-04390); the National Science Foundation (BCS-155719); the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC ES/L008955/1); the European Research Council Advanced Grant, UNDER CONTROL (323961); the European Research Council Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant (798658); the Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2015-009); the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD083312); the European Research Council Synergy Grant (SOMICS 609819); the Early Career Research Grant & Start-up Grant, Western Sydney University; Research Manitoba University of Manitoba, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba; and the ODPRT funds, National University of Singapore

The development of gaze following in monolingual and bilingual infants : a multi-laboratory study

Determining the meanings of words requires language learners to attend to what other people say. However, it behooves a young language learner to simultaneously encode relevant non-verbal cues, for example, by following the direction of their eye gaze. Sensitivity to cues such as eye gaze might be particularly important for bilingual infants, as they encounter less consistency between words and objects than monolingual infants, and do not always have access to the same word-learning heuristics (e.g., mutual exclusivity). In a preregistered study, we tested the hypothesis that bilingual experience would lead to a more pronounced ability to follow another's gaze. We used a gaze-following paradigm developed by Senju and Csibra (Current Biology, 18, 2008, 668) to test a total of 93 6- to 9-month-old and 229 12- to 15-month-old monolingual and bilingual infants, in 11 laboratories located in 8 countries. Monolingual and bilingual infants showed similar gaze-following abilities, and both groups showed agerelated improvements in speed, accuracy, frequency, and duration of fixations to congruent objects. Unexpectedly, bilinguals tended to make more frequent fixations to onscreen objects, whether or not they were cued by the actor. These results suggest that gaze sensitivity is a fundamental aspect of development that is robust to variation in language exposure. (This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 798658.

ManyBabies 5: A large-scale investigation of the proposed shift from familiarity preference to novelty preference in infant looking time Pre-data collection manuscript for peer-review The ManyBabies 5 Team

International audienceMuch of our basic understanding of cognitive and social processes in infancy relies on measures of looking time, and specifically on infants' visual preference for a novel or familiar stimulus. However, despite being the foundation of many behavioral tasks in infant research, the determinants of infants' visual preferences are poorly understood, and differences in the expression of preferences can be difficult to interpret. In this large-scale study, we test predictions from the Hunter and Ames model of infants' visual preferences. 1 We investigate the effects of three factors predicted by this model to determine infants' preference for novel versus familiar stimuli: age, stimulus familiarity, and stimulus complexity. Drawing from a large and diverse sample of infant participants (N = XX), this study will provide crucial empirical evidence for a robust and generalizable model of infant visual preferences, leading to a more solid theoretical foundation for understanding the mechanisms that underlie infants' responses in common behavioral paradigms. Moreover, our findings will guide future studies that rely on infants' visual preferences to measure cognitive and social processes

Brainhack: Developing a culture of open, inclusive, community-driven neuroscience

Brainhack is an innovative meeting format that promotes scientific collaboration and education in an open, inclusive environment. This NeuroView describes the myriad benefits for participants and the research community and how Brainhacks complement conventional formats to augment scientific progress