Let's visit the alien toy shop!

For 4- to 6- year olds

In this study, your child will see two images of unfamiliar objects on the screen -- one on the left and one on the right, and hear a novel word in a sentence, such as "Point to the dax!" You will be prompted to select the image that your child looks at or points to upon hearing the sentences. In some trials, your child will hear a sentence without any images.

We are interested in whether hearing a novel word without seeing the object that the word refers to may help children learn that word. This is an important question because in daily life, children often hear new words without seeing what the word is referring to, and it remains unclear if children can learn from these instances. For example, if hearing a new word without its referent helps children strengthen their previous knowledge of the word, they should learn it better than those they've only heard once. Overall, this study helps us advance our understanding about children's language development.

10 minutes

Within 2 weeks after you participate in this study, we will email you a $5 Amazon gift card for Amazon.com. To be eligible for the gift card: 1) you need to be located in the US, 2) your child must be in the age range for this study, 3) you need to submit a valid consent statement, and 4) we need to see that there is a child with you. You and your child do not need to finish the whole study to receive the gift card. Each child can only participate in this study once.