TY - JOUR
T1 - Adults and children predict in complex and variable referential contexts
AU - Reuter, Tracy
AU - Dalawella, Kavindya
AU - Lew-Williams, Casey
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to CLW [R01HD095912,R03HD079779] and from the National Science Foundation to TR [DGE1656466]. We thank all participants, as well as Dominick Reuter, Claire Robertson, and Cynthia Lukyanenko for assistance with stimuli, Mia Sullivan for assistance with data collection, and other members of the Princeton Baby Lab for assistance with participant recruitment. We are also grateful to Adele Goldberg for comments on a previous version of this paper. This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Casey Lew-Williams (R01HD095912, R03HD079779) and from the National Science Foundation to Tracy Reuter (DGE-1656466).
Funding Information:
We thank all participants, as well as Dominick Reuter, Claire Robertson, and Cynthia Lukyanenko for assistance with stimuli, Mia Sullivan for assistance with data collection, and other members of the Princeton Baby Lab for assistance with participant recruitment. We are also grateful to Adele Goldberg for comments on a previous version of this paper. This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Casey Lew-Williams (R01HD095912, R03HD079779) and from the National Science Foundation to Tracy Reuter (DGE-1656466).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Prior research suggests that prediction supports language processing and learning. However, the ecological validity of such findings is unclear because experiments usually include constrained stimuli. While theoretically suggestive, previous conclusions will be largely irrelevant if listeners cannot generate predictions in response to complex and variable perceptual input. Taking a step toward addressing this limitation, three eye-tracking experiments evaluated how adults (N = 72) and 4- and 5-year-old children (N = 72) generated predictions in contexts with complex visual stimuli (Experiment 1), variable speech stimuli (Experiment 2), and both concurrently (Experiment 3). Results indicated that listeners generated predictions in contexts with complex visual stimuli or variable speech stimuli. When both were more naturalistic, listeners used informative verbs to generate predictions, but not adjectives or number markings. This investigation provides a test for theories claiming that prediction is a central learning mechanism, and calls for further evaluations of prediction in naturalistic settings.
AB - Prior research suggests that prediction supports language processing and learning. However, the ecological validity of such findings is unclear because experiments usually include constrained stimuli. While theoretically suggestive, previous conclusions will be largely irrelevant if listeners cannot generate predictions in response to complex and variable perceptual input. Taking a step toward addressing this limitation, three eye-tracking experiments evaluated how adults (N = 72) and 4- and 5-year-old children (N = 72) generated predictions in contexts with complex visual stimuli (Experiment 1), variable speech stimuli (Experiment 2), and both concurrently (Experiment 3). Results indicated that listeners generated predictions in contexts with complex visual stimuli or variable speech stimuli. When both were more naturalistic, listeners used informative verbs to generate predictions, but not adjectives or number markings. This investigation provides a test for theories claiming that prediction is a central learning mechanism, and calls for further evaluations of prediction in naturalistic settings.
KW - Prediction
KW - anticipatory eye movements
KW - ecological validity
KW - language development
KW - language processing
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U2 - 10.1080/23273798.2020.1839665
DO - 10.1080/23273798.2020.1839665
M3 - Article
C2 - 34250180
AN - SCOPUS:85096576891
SN - 2327-3798
VL - 36
SP - 474
EP - 490
JO - Language, Cognition and Neuroscience
JF - Language, Cognition and Neuroscience
IS - 4
ER -