Abstract
While a number of studies have found that an improvement in object shape recognition is associated with language growth in infants and toddlers, no published studies have investigated the longitudinal relation between early shape recognition, and language abilities in later childhood. An electrophysiological measure of semantic processing (the N400) was used to assess shape recognition and general object recognition in a naming context in 20-month-olds. The measures of shape recognition strongly predicted language and cognitive abilities at 6–7 years even after controlling for toddler vocabulary size. The electrophysiological measures of general object recognition were not related to future language or cognitive abilities. These results suggest that early shape recognition abilities may play a role in language acquisition and influence even long-term language outcomes.
Highlights
The growth of children’s early vocabularies has been systematically linked to the development of the so-called “shape bias”: the tendency to extend newly learned words to objects similar in shape (Landau et al, 1988)
Studies have demonstrated that an improvement in shape recognition, and the development of a shape bias, is associated with an increase in concurrent vocabulary size in toddlers (Smith, 2003; Pereira and Smith, 2009; Yee et al, 2012), so far little is known about the more long-term relevance of early shape recognition for language skills in later childhood
The present study only reports event-related potential (ERP) data from the 20 months session, since this time point best captured the period of emergence of the shape recognition/shape bias skills (50–100 words vocabulary, and in between 18 and 24 months)
Summary
The growth of children’s early vocabularies has been systematically linked to the development of the so-called “shape bias”: the tendency to extend newly learned words to objects similar in shape (Landau et al, 1988). Studies have demonstrated that an improvement in shape recognition, and the development of a shape bias, is associated with an increase in concurrent vocabulary size in toddlers (Smith, 2003; Pereira and Smith, 2009; Yee et al, 2012), so far little is known about the more long-term relevance of early shape recognition for language skills in later childhood In this longitudinal study, we report how brain and behavioral measures of shape recognition in toddlers relate to language and cognitive ability at 6–7 years
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