Abstract
Young children discover the meaning of words from hearing words used across time and across contexts. Children learn to label not only the specific instances they have experienced, but they also learn the meaning of words appropriately to new instances. Moreover, children remember these word-referent pairs across a period of time, such that they are able to recall the appropriate word after delays of days or weeks. In this chapter, we address these aspects of word learning – how do children generalize instances to new situations and remember word-referent pairs across time? In doing so, we discuss statistical learning as a mechanism for word learning with a specific focus on the processes of aggregation and abstraction. Second, we discuss how multiple examples dynamically support the retention of word-referent pairs.
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Sandhofer, C., Schonberg, C. (2020). Multiple Examples Support Children’s Word Learning: The Roles of Aggregation, Decontextualization, and Memory Dynamics. In: Childers, J. (eds) Language and Concept Acquisition from Infancy Through Childhood. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35594-4_8
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