Poster #43 - Testing Noun and Verb Learning with the Same Stimuli: Does Context Matter?

• In Event: Poster Session 05

Abstract

Learning a new verb can be more difficult than learning a noun given the complexity of identifying the verb’s referent (e.g., Bornstein et al., 2004; Hespos, Saylor, & Grossman, 2009; Childers & Tomasello, 2002). However, most studies of nouns and verbs use different stimuli and procedures, making them difficult to compare (but see Childers & Tomasello, 2002; Childers et al., 2012). The present study investigates whether the context in which a word is learned affects noun and verb learning. There is evidence that context may not be important in noun learning (Tippenhauer & Saylor, 2018) though given the difficulty of learning new verbs, context may play a larger role in verb learning. Our study compares noun and verb learning using the same visual stimuli for nouns and verbs.

Two- (n= 47; Xage= 2;7), 3- (n= 39, Xage= 3;8) and 4-year-olds (n= 54, Xage= 4;9) heard four novel words, either nouns or verbs, while seeing an agent performing a novel action with a novel object. In the same context condition, children saw learning trials and test trials in either a kitchen or a park. In the different context condition, learning trials were shown in one context (e.g., kitchen) and tested in another (e.g., park). In each event, an agent was seen performing a novel action with a novel object while children heard “Look! She’s zuving it!” (verb) or “Look! She has the zuv!” (noun). After seeing the event repeatedly for 10 seconds, they were shown two test trials. Each included a split screen video showing the agent performing the same action with a new object vs. performing a different action with the same object (see Fig 1), repeated with switched sides; correct responses for one word type were incorrect for the other.

A univariate ANOVA with Age (3: 2s, 3s, 4s), Word (2: noun, verb) and Condition (2: same context, different) as BS factors; dv= mean proportion correct, showed a main effect of Age, F(2, 139)= 5.56, p=.005, main effect of Word, F(1, 139)= 33.44, p<.001, and Age x Word interaction, F(2, 139)= 4.78, p=.010. Post-hoc t-tests with Sidak corrections show, in both age groups, children performed better in the noun than verb condition (see Fig. 1), ps< .02. Two-year-olds’ verb performance was significantly worse than 3s’ (p= .011) and 4s’ (p< .001). One sample t-tests show noun responding in each age group exceeded chance, but verb responding exceeded chance only for 4s, ps< .02 (see Fig. 2).

Thus, across age, children were better at learning nouns than verbs, demonstrating that verb learning is more difficult than noun learning. Although other evidence supports this, most of these studies have not used the same stimuli and none have examined the effect of context. These results also suggest context may not play a major role in verb learning, which is a new finding. Understanding verb learning is important as verbs are central to the syntactic structure of sentences, and are key to learning one’s native language.

Authors

• Jane B. Childers, Trinity University - San Antonio
  Presenting Author

• Patrick Mihalicz, University of Calgary

• Piper Swearengin, Trinity University - San Antonio

• Victoria Bell, Trinity University

• Zoe A Baker, Trinity University - San Antonio

• Susan A Graham, University of Calgary (U of C)