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What matters most, what you say or how you say it?
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Parents use a rich combination of signals to convey their intentions to infants and children. For example, to prevent her infant from touching a sharp object, a parent may use an abrupt tone of voice and a fearful facial expression. Before infants understand language, facial and vocal expressions are primary sources of information about the world. We are exploring the role of language, face, and voice in guiding behavior in unfamiliar situations. |
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Parent observations of early language Parents are keen observers of their infant's development. Realizing this, researchers developed a way to assess early language that is based on parents' observations. The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories are prominent parent report checklists that have been adapted into over 20 languages. We are particularly interested in parent perceptions of their infant's early understanding and the way that these perceptions influence appraisals of vocabulary development. |
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To obtain a comprehensive view of the language acquisition process, it is helpful to supplement parent report with infants' language understanding in the laboratory. Researchers must creatively develop procedures that infants find engaging and interesting. We are using several child performance approaches to learn more about early word understanding. |
Laboratory observations of early language
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