This research investigates how infants represent events and how these initial representations may serve as a basis for what gets mapped into language.
The specific aim of the proposed studies is to explore how infants conceptualize the Source (starting point of actor's movement; e.g., 'the branch' in 'the bird flew off the branch') in events. The questions explored are: Which types of Sources do infants encode, and do these [individual conceptualizations of Source fall under a broad abstract Source category (as suggested by evidence from language acquisition studies and linguistic theory)? Or, does an abstract category of Source emerge when children start learning the language of events? Visual habituation paradigms will be used with pre-linguistic infants to explore these questions. These studies will enrich our understanding of infant event representation in two important ways. First, it will further our understanding of which kinds of Sources preinguistic infants are able to track and encode when viewing an event (thus perhaps yielding a 'guideline' for [normal infant development). Second, it will inform us about how infants conceptualize Sources in events; i.e., nether infants form a broad, abstract conceptual category of Source as does language. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
1F32HD051197-01
Application #
6997601
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-F12A (20))
Program Officer
Freund, Lisa S
Project Start
2005-08-01
Project End
2008-07-31
Budget Start
2005-08-01
Budget End
2006-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$42,068
Indirect Cost
Name
Harvard University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
082359691
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02138
Lakusta, Laura; Spinelli, Danielle; Garcia, Kathryn (2017) The relationship between pre-verbal event representations and semantic structures: The case of goal and source paths. Cognition 164:174-187
Lakusta, Laura; Carey, Susan (2015) Twelve-Month-Old Infants' Encoding of Goal and Source Paths in Agentive and Non-Agentive Motion Events. Lang Learn Dev 11:152-157
Muentener, Paul; Lakusta, Laura (2011) The intention-to-CAUSE bias: evidence from children's causal language. Cognition 119:341-55
Wagner, Laura; Lakusta, Laura (2009) Using Language to Navigate the Infant Mind. Perspect Psychol Sci 4:177-184