The effect of masks on infants' ability to fast-map and generalize new words

J Child Lang. 2024 Jan 8:1-19. doi: 10.1017/S0305000923000697. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTYoung children today are exposed to masks on a regular basis. However, there is limited empirical evidence on how masks may affect word learning. The study explored the effect of masks on infants' abilities to fast-map and generalize new words. Seventy-two Chinese infants (43 males, Mage = 18.26 months) were taught two novel word-object pairs by a speaker with or without a mask. They then heard the words and had to visually identify the correct objects and also generalize words to a different speaker and objects from the same category. Eye-tracking results indicate that infants looked longer at the target regardless of whether a speaker wore a mask. They also looked longer at the speaker's eyes than at the mouth only when words were taught through a mask. Thus, fast-mapping and generalization occur in both masked and not masked conditions as infants can flexibly access different visual cues during word-learning.PMID:38189211 | DOI:10.1017/S0305000923000697
Source: Journal of Child Language - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Source Type: research