Naming names: How, and how early, does object naming influence infants' fundamental object representations?

Language is unique to our species. Its power comes not only from its complexity, but also from its link to human cognition. This language-cognition link gives us exceptional conceptual flexibility. For example, we can readily represent any object (e.g., my family dog) either as a unique individual (Magic) or as a member of an object category (eg., a dog), and we switch effortlessly among these different representations. This cognitive flexibility is supported by language: how an object is named - either as a unique individual or a member of a category – influences how we represent that object in our minds. This language-cognition link has powerful downstream consequences: it guides how we learn and reason about, guiding our learning and reasoning. Striking new research reveals that this link may be in place early enough to guide infant development, even before infants have begun to talk. For example, by 12 months, even before infants say more than a few words, naming a group of objects (e.g., a dog, a horse, a duck) with the same, consistently-applied name focuses infants’ attention on what is common about them and supports object categorization (animal). But providing a different name for each of those same objects has a very different effect, focusing infants’ attention on what is different about them and supporting their representation of each as a unique individual. This is compelling, but it leaves open an important question. How do infants acquire this uniquely human language-cognition link in the first place? And how does this link fuel infants’ ability to learn about objects and their names? This project answers these inter-related questions. The first goal is to discover whether infants as young as 7 months can establish the tight link between how an object is named and how they represent it. To address this developmental question, the study tests the effect of naming objects on infants’ representation and memory of those objects. The second goal is to discover whether infants’ early representations of objects are strong enough to help them reason about objects in the real world. To address this representational question, the study tests infants’ memory and representation of objects when they move around, hiding and reappearing in dynamic events. the stage for building an increasingly precise and flexible link between object naming and object representation. The third goal is to answer questions about stability and change over development. To do so, we combine all data from all infants who participated in the study. We supplement this vocabulary assessments of these same infants, collected at 3-month intervals until they reach 18 months. Armed with this rich data set, the study examines whether infants’ language-cognition ilink at 9 months and 12 months of age is related to their vocabulary growth across the first eighteen months. This project sheds light on early language acquisition, cognitive development, and the relation between them. The outcomes may help to identify very young infants at risk for language delay or impairment, and to design interventions to advance their language and cognitive advances. The project also has a strong training mission. It supports training of women and members of other historically underrepresented communities. It also deepens partnerships with families, trainees and staff in our racially and ethnically diverse community This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.