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Infants differentially extract rules from language.

ABSTRACT: Infants readily extract linguistic rules from speech. Here, we ask whether this advantage extends to linguistic stimuli that do not rely on the spoken modality. To address this question, we first examine whether infants can differentially learn rules from linguistic signs. We show that, despite having no previous experience with a sign language, six-month-old infants can extract the reduplicative rule (AA) from dynamic linguistic signs, and the neural response to reduplicative linguistic signs differs from reduplicative visual controls, matched for the dynamic spatiotemporal properties of signs. We next demonstrate that the brain response for reduplicative signs is similar to the response to reduplicative speech stimuli. Rule learning, then, apparently depends on the linguistic status of the stimulus, not its sensory modality. These results suggest that infants are language-ready. They possess a powerful rule system that is differentially engaged by all linguistic stimuli, speech or sign.

SUBMITTER: Berent I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8501030 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Infants differentially extract rules from language.

Berent Iris I de la Cruz-Pavía Irene I Brentari Diane D Gervain Judit J

Scientific reports 20211008 1

Infants readily extract linguistic rules from speech. Here, we ask whether this advantage extends to linguistic stimuli that do not rely on the spoken modality. To address this question, we first examine whether infants can differentially learn rules from linguistic signs. We show that, despite having no previous experience with a sign language, six-month-old infants can extract the reduplicative rule (AA) from dynamic linguistic signs, and the neural response to reduplicative linguistic signs d ...[more]

PMID: 34625613

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Project description:The way that parents communicate with their typically developing infants is associated with later infant language development. Here we aim to show that these associations are observed in infants subsequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study had three groups: high-familial-risk infants who did not have ASD (n = 46); high-familial-risk infants who had ASD (n = 14); and low-familial-risk infants who exhibited typical development (n = 36). All-day home language recordings were collected at 9 and 15 months, and language skills were assessed at 24 months. Across all infants in the study, including those with ASD, a richer home language environment (e.g., hearing more adult words and experiencing more conversational turns) at 9 and 15 months was associated with better language skills. Higher parental educational attainment was associated with a richer home language environment. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of education on child language skills was explained by the richness of the home language environment. Exploratory analyses revealed that typically developing infants experience an increase in caregiver-child conversational turns across 9-15 months, a pattern not seen in children with ASD. The current study shows that parent behavior during the earliest stages of life can have a significant impact on later development, highlighting the home language environment as means to support development in infants with ASD. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1784-1795. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: It has long been understood that caregiver speech supports language skills in typically developing infants. In this study, parents of infants who were later diagnosed with ASD and parents of infants in the control groups completed all-day home language recordings. We found that for all infants in our study, those who heard more caregiver speech had better language skills later in life. Parental education level was also related to how much caregiver speech an infant experienced.

Dataset Information

Infants differentially extract rules from language.

Publications

Infants differentially extract rules from language.

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