|
Is naming necessary for object
categorising in preverbal infants? Paula Gurteen University of Wales, United Kingdom Horne and Lowe (1996, 1997, 1998; and Lowe and Horne, 1996) argue that naming is a bi-directional speaker-listener relation that establishes categorical relations among objects whether or not those objects bear any physical or functional similarity. Research with normal preverbal infants at the University of Wales, Bangor aims to test key predictions of naming theory. In Condition 1, participants learn either common listener behaviour (comprehension) alone, or common speaker behaviour (production) alone to sets of arbitrary shaped objects, and their ability to categorise object-sets together is tested. In Condition 2, the name relation is completed so that infants who have previously learned the listener relation are now taught a common speaker relation and vice versa. Again, infants' ability to categorise class-members together is assessed. This presentation offers preliminary findings from the experimental programme. Keywords: naming, categorisation, infants |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|