Article Title
The Effects of Infant Age on Parental Vocalizations About Object Categories in a Play-type Setting
Abstract
Previous studies have examined the role of various perceptual features of objects on an infant’s ability to effectively categorize the object. Few, if any studies have examined the role of parents in the formation of categories early in infancy and the effect of the infants’ age on the type of categorical information provided by the parents. In two studies, parental vocalizations directed to their infants (3- to 12-months of age) about objects were videotaped and analyzed. In Study 1 the proportion of superordinate labels used by parents increased as a function of the infant’s age while the proportion of basic level labels decreased with age. In Study 2, parental attempts at label elicitation increased as a function of the infant’s age. The results show definite age-related patterns in parental vocalizations about objects and their categories. The results indicate that parents are a source of categorical information early in infancy.