Abstract
This study set out to examine whether shyness, an aversion to novelty and unfamiliar social situations, can affect the processes that underlie early word learning. Twenty-four-month-old children (n =32) were presented with sets of one novel and two familiar objects, and it was found that shyer children were less likely to select a novel object as the referent of a novel label. Furthermore, not-shy children then showed evidence of retaining these novel mappings, but shy children did not. These findings suggest that shy children's aversion to novelty and to the unfamiliar context can impact on their word learning.
Highlights
IntroductionMust they work out what the words they hear mean, but they must remember these words and their referents
In learning language, young children face a challenging task
The present study found that shy children were less likely than not-shy children to correctly identify a requested familiar or a novel object from a set of three
Summary
Must they work out what the words they hear mean, but they must remember these words and their referents. Given the complexity of the speech that children hear and the limitless potential meanings of these words, this task seems almost impossible (Quine, ), and there has been much interest in the general mechanisms by which children are able to learn words. Children constrain the potential meaning of words they hear according to the shape (Landau, Smith & Jones, ) and taxonomic category (Markman & Hutchinson, ) of potential referents. Constraining the potential meaning of heard words in these ways is the first step towards successful word learning (McMurray, Horst & Samuelson, )
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
