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Imagine a 2-year-old girl sitting on the floor playing with an assortment of toys—her favorite doll, a set of stacking cups, and a brand new toy sailboat. Her mother looks over and says, “There’s your new boat.” Jenny holds the boat in the air and says “boat”. The next day, Jenny looks out the car window and says “boat” when she sees a speedboat being pulled behind a car. From hearing her toy sailboat named one time, Jenny somehow knew which other objects were called by the same name. As remarkable as this example may sound, any parent can tell you that it is not that far-fetched. Young children are very skilled at learning new words.
We want to know how children become so skilled at this difficult task. With the help of the many dedicated parents and children who have visited the lab, we have learned that some of the skill children show in learning new words comes from discovering patterns among the words they already know.
Our current studies examine on how young use what they already know to learn new things. In many of our studies we look at this by asking children to categorize and name novel objects and substances. In other studies we do not name the objects, but watch how the children play with and group the objects. Another set of studies in the lab is looking at how children use what they know about solid objects to find something that is out of sight.
We thank all the parents and children who have participated in our studies. Your support has enabled us to understand more about how young children learn language and about the world around them. We couldn't do it without you!
Map and directions to the
lab
Descriptions of current studies
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When
you arrive at Spence Laboratories a research assistant from the
lab will meet you and your child at the doors just inside the
Iowa Avenue entrance. They will show you to a comfortable
waiting room in the lab. Here your child can play with toys,
color and do puzzles while the research assistant goes over the
experimental procedure and informed consent document. Next, the
research assistant will take you and your child into one of the
two laboratory testing rooms. If you have other children with
you who are not participating in the study another research
assistant can play with them in the waiting room so you can
accompany your child during the experiment. During experimental
sessions, you will sit next to your child in the testing room.
At the completion of the study, your child will get to pick a
prize from an array of gifts as a token of our appreciation for
your participation. The research assistant will then validate
your parking ticket and show you back to the Spence
Laboratories entrance.|
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