I learn what I like: children’s preferences but not maternal IDS influence word learning from IDS and ADS

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ABSTRACT The input a child receives as well as the child’s own preferences can influence their learning. While parents typically use exaggerated infant-directed speech (IDS) with their child, children’s preference for IDS varies across development, and even older children learn better from IDS relative to ADS (adult-directed speech). Here, we examine whether the quality of maternal IDS and children’s preference for IDS relative to ADS influence their word learning from the two registers. We tested 48 German 18- to 24-month-olds in a gaze-contingent preference task, examining whether they prefer a woman talking IDS or a woman talking ADS. Subsequently, children were presented with novel objects and their novel labels, with half of the labels in IDS and the other in ADS. At test, two objects were presented side-by-side and one object was labeled while children’s target looking was recorded. Additionally, we recorded mothers’ IDS and ADS. While mothers’ IDS differed from ADS, children did not show a systematic preference for one of the registers. Children learned word-object associations from IDS and ADS while showing higher target recognition in the register they preferred. These results reveal how the preferences a child formed influenced a child’s word learning behavior early in life.