How do infants' developing phonological perception and awareness contribute to their ability to learn the meaning of words? In the proposed experiments, the preferential looking paradigm will be used to test if 1) 14-26-month-olds' word-object associations are phonetically detailed, and if so, 2) whether these infants actively suppress their awareness of these phonetic differences under specific circumstances. One set of studies will address infants' sensitivity to phonemic variability in pronunciations of words, while a second line of research looks at their sensitivity to small pronunciation differences (called allophonic differences) within different instances of the same word. This perspective of flexible word learning provides a new way of characterizing the process of lexical acquisition and challenges many long-held assumptions about the developing abilities of infants. In addition, the understanding this work provides for infants' flexibility in language learning situations is critical to the development of therapeutic interventions in the case of language delay or other developmental disorders and in helping normally developing children achieve more. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31HD047953-02
Application #
7149158
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BBBP-H (29))
Program Officer
Mccardle, Peggy D
Project Start
2004-09-20
Project End
2006-08-31
Budget Start
2005-12-01
Budget End
2006-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$27,546
Indirect Cost
Name
Purdue University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
072051394
City
West Lafayette
State
IN
Country
United States
Zip Code
47907