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Abstract Object names are a major component of early vocabularies and learning object names depends on being able to visually recognize objects in the world. However, the fundamental visual challenge of the moment‐to‐moment variations in object appearances that learners must resolve has received little attention in word learning research. Here we provide the first evidence that image‐level object variability matters and may be the link that connects infant object manipulation to vocabulary development. Using head‐mounted eye tracking, the present study objectively measured individual differences in the moment‐to‐moment variability of visual instances of the same object, from infants’ first‐person views. Infants who generated more variable visual object images through manual object manipulation at 15 months of age experienced greater vocabulary growth over the next six months. Elucidating infants’ everyday visual experiences with objects may constitute a crucial missing link in our understanding of the developmental trajectory of object name learning.
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This content will become publicly available on November 1, 2026
Violations of social expectations enhance infants' learning
Not AvailableWhen infants see objects behave in surprising ways, they not only notice these violations, but also experience enhanced learning about the objects. Although infants also notice when social agents behave in surprising ways, it is unclear whether violations of social expectations similarly enhance learning. Here we asked whether surprising events in the social domain amplify learning. In three experiments, 16- to 19-month-old infants saw a person behave either expectedly or unexpectedly towards an object, and then had the opportunity to learn about the object or person involved in the event. Experiment 1 presented infants with a person who produced an emotional reaction that was congruent with a target object, as expected, or produced a reaction that was surprisingly incongruent; Experiments 2 and 3 presented infants with a person whose preference among two different goal objects remained consistent, as expected, or suddenly reversed, defying expectations. Across Experiments 1-3, infants exhibited enhanced learning about both the object and, to some extent, the person involved in the surprising event. Combined with previous findings, these findings suggest that early expectations support learning in the social domain as well as in the physical domain.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2044433
- PAR ID:
- 10657277
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Cognition
- Volume:
- 264
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0010-0277
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 106227
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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