Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Dev Sci. 2021 Jul;24(4):e13098. doi: 10.1111/desc.13098. Epub 2021 Mar 8.
Children learn words in environments where there is considerable variability, both in terms of the number of possible referents for novel words, and the availability of cues to support word-referent mappings. How caregivers adapt their gestural cues to referential uncertainty has not yet been explored. We tested a computational model of cross-situational word learning that examined the value of a variable gesture cue during training across conditions of varying referential uncertainty. We found that gesture had a greater benefit for referential uncertainty, but unexpectedly also found that learning was best when there was variability in both the environment (number of referents) and gestural cue use. We demonstrated that these results are reflected behaviourally in an experimental word-learning study involving children aged 18-24-month-olds and their caregivers. Under similar conditions to the computational model, caregivers not only used gesture more when there were more potential referents for novel words, but children also learned best when there was some referential ambiguity for words. Thus, caregivers are sensitive to referential uncertainty in the environment and adapt their gestures accordingly, and children are able to respond to environmental variability to learn more robustly. These results imply that training under variable circumstances may actually benefit learning, rather than hinder it.
儿童在具有高度可变性的环境中学习词汇，无论是在新词的可能指涉对象数量方面，还是在支持词汇-指涉映射的线索可用性方面都是如此。照顾者如何调整他们的手势线索以适应指涉不确定性，这一点尚未得到探索。我们测试了一种跨情境词汇学习的计算模型，该模型考察了在不同指涉不确定性条件下，训练过程中可变手势线索的价值。我们发现，手势对于指涉不确定性有更大的帮助，但出乎意料的是，我们还发现，当环境（指涉对象的数量）和手势线索使用都具有可变性时，学习效果最佳。我们通过一项涉及 18-24 个月大的儿童及其照顾者的实验性词汇学习研究，在行为上证明了这些结果。在与计算模型相似的条件下，照顾者不仅在新词有更多潜在指涉对象时会更多地使用手势，而且当词汇的指涉有些模糊时，儿童的学习效果也最好。因此，照顾者对环境中的指涉不确定性很敏感，并相应地调整他们的手势，而儿童则能够对环境变化做出反应，从而更稳健地学习。这些结果表明，在可变情境下进行训练实际上可能会有益于学习，而不是阻碍学习。
