Poster #45 - The Role of Prototypicality in Training “Close” and “Far” from Storybooks

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

Shared storybook reading is one of the most powerful avenues for language learning. It allows children to hear new words and their referents together in real time (Hanson et al., 2021) and provides parents with an opportunity to elaborate on stories and make connections to children’s real-world experiences (“extra-textual talk”; Blewitt & Langan, 2016). Importantly, most of the previous research on young children’s learning from storybooks has focused on learning nouns and not other word classes. Can young children learn other types of words from storybooks? And if so, what dimensions best promote their learning? As a first step to address these questions, this investigation will explore whether young children can learn the spatial words “close” and “far” from a lab-created storybook. These words were selected because they, like other spatial terms, have a protracted developmental trajectory, where children first comprehend and produce them in highly protoptyical contexts (e.g., “close” as nearly touching a referent object) before using them more flexibly (Hund & Plumert, 2007; Lorenz & Plumert, 2019). Here, the investigation will compare if seeing highly prototypical representations of “close” and “far” will enhance learning compared to a constrained representation, and if mere exposure to these terms in this context promotes learning beyond a control condition.
Sixty 24- to 30-month-old children will be read a storybook daily for two weeks. They will be randomly assigned to read one of three books. In the “prototypical” and “constrained” conditions, children will hear the target words “close” and “far” embedded in a storyline. Scenes in these books will be comprised of two identical objects and one reference object; the only difference across books will be an increased distance between objects in the “prototypical” condition and decreased distance between objects in the “constrained” condition (Figure 1a and 1b). Children in the control condition will read a version of the book that instead targets the terms “red” and “blue” but that maintains the same distance as objects in the constrained condition (Figure 1c). Children’s comprehension of spatial terms (close/far) and color terms (red/blue) will be tested both before and after the two-week reading period. Parents will also complete measures of children’s general and relational vocabularies prior to pre-test.
To address whether exposure to storybooks enhanced learning, I will conduct a series of paired t-tests to compare pre-test and post-test performance on spatial and color term trials across conditions. Then, to address whether a prototypical visual presentation of “close” and “far” impacts learning, I will use multiple regression analyses to predict post-test performance from condition, controlling for age, vocabulary, and parental education. Finally, I will conduct a series of exploratory correlational analyses to determine if individual factors while book reading, including amount of extra-textual talk and total times read, predicts language learning. The results should directly inform whether young children can learn complex spatial concepts from shared storybook reading and provide insight into the factors that best support this learning.

Author

• Megan G Lorenz, Augustana College
  Presenting Author