Abstractness emerges progressively over the second year of life

words, terms not referring to here and now, are acquired slowly in infancy. They are difficult to acquire as they are more detached from sensory modalities than concrete words. Recent theories propose that, because of their complexity, other people are pivotal for abstract concepts’ acquisition and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2022-12, Vol.12 (1), p.20940-20940, Article 20940
Main Authors: Bellagamba, Francesca, Borghi, Anna M., Mazzuca, Claudia, Pecora, Giulia, Ferrara, Fabiana, Fogel, Alan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Babies
Child
Children
Communication
Computer & video games
Concept Formation
Data Accuracy
Female
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Laboratories
Language acquisition
Language Development
Linguistics
Mothers
multidisciplinary
Native language acquisition
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Social interaction
Social networks
System theory
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Summary:words, terms not referring to here and now, are acquired slowly in infancy. They are difficult to acquire as they are more detached from sensory modalities than concrete words. Recent theories propose that, because of their complexity, other people are pivotal for abstract concepts’ acquisition and use. Eight children (4 girls) and their mothers were observed longitudinally and extensively from 12 to 24 months of age. Video recordings of mother-infant free play with toys were done every two weeks in a laboratory setting with families in the USA. Children progressively use a range of words referring to abstract concepts, with a major shift from 12 to 15 months and again from 22 to 24 months, but the qualitative data testify an incremental growth of abstract concepts. We identified a progression in the acquisition of words denoting abstract concepts in relation to the overall productive vocabulary, suggesting that having more abstract terms in one’s vocabulary promotes faster language acquisition.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-25426-5