WOLVES
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Dynamics of Visual Attention and Word Learning
IRAS ID
211250
Contact name
Larissa Samuelson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 7 months, 30 days
Research summary
Word learning is complex because it is tied to many different behaviours (looking, pointing), subserved by multiple perceptual and cognitive processes (attention, memory, categorization), and because it is extended in time. This research tests the first formal theory of early word learning that integrates visual object processing and word learning across multiple timescales. This theory focuses on individual differences very early in word learning (3 to 36-months of age), thereby opening the door to future efforts using the theory to predict which infants are at risk for language delays and to use our theoretical model as a clinical tool to test candidate interventions. The experiments examine how young children integrate information about what they see with the words they hear to make new links between words and referents.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SC/0432
Date of REC Opinion
30 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion