Infants' Contribution to the Achievement of Joint Reference

TLDR

Infants may either map labels to the object they are looking at or use a speaker’s nonverbal cues to resolve reference. This research examines whether infants actively contribute to the achievement of joint reference. The study trained 64 16‑ to 19‑month‑old infants with new toy labels in two conditions: follow‑in labeling, where the experimenter looked at and labeled the toy the infant was already looking at, and discrepant labeling, where the experimenter looked at and labeled a different toy. Infants successfully learned labels in follow‑in labeling and did not make mapping errors after discrepant labeling, indicating that 16‑ to 19‑month‑olds understand that a speaker’s nonverbal cues are relevant to reference and can contribute to joint reference.

Abstract

This research examines whether infants actively contribute to the achievement of joint reference. One possibility is that infants tend to link a a label with whichever object they are focused on when they hear the label. If so, infants would make a mapping error when an adult labels a different object than the one occupying their focus. Alternatively, infants may be able to use a speaker's nonverbal cues (e.g., line of regard) to interpret the reference of novel labels. This ability would allow infants to avoid errors when adult labels conflict with infants' focus. 64 16-19-month-olds were taught new labels for novel toys in 2 situations. In follow-in labeling, the experimenter looked at and labeled a toy at which infants were already looking. In discrepant labeling, the experimenter looked at and labeled a different toy than the one occupying infants' focus. Infants' responses to subsequent comprehension questions revealed that they (a) successfully learned the labels introduced during follow-in labeling, and (b) displayed no tendency to make mapping errors after discrepant labeling. Thus infants of only 16 to 19 months understand that a speaker's nonverbal cues are relevant to the reference of object labels; they already can contribute to the social coordination involved in achieving joint reference.