Why children learn color and size words so differently: Evidence from adults' learning of artificial terms.
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: An adult simulation study examined why children's learning of color and size terms follow different developmental patterns, one in which word comprehension precedes success in nonlinguistic matching tasks versus one in which matching precedes word comprehension. In 4 experiments, adults learned artificial labels for values on novel dimensions. Training mimicked that characteristic for children learning either color words or size words. The results suggest that the learning trajectories arise from the different frames in which different dimensions are trained: Using a comparison (size-like) training regimen helps learners pick out the relevant dimension, and using a categorization (color-like) training regimen helps the learner correctly comprehend and produce dimension terms. The results indicate that the training regimen, not the meanings of the terms or the specific dimensions, determines the pattern of learning.
Authors: Catherine M. Sandhofer, Linda B. Smith
Institutions: Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2098132901