The role of action in early lexical acquisition

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Abstract
The role of action in early lexical acquisition was explored in 12 children (1;0.21 to 1;3.15) through the presentation of 16 contrived concepts, each involving a nonsense word and 4 unfamiliar objects or 4 unfamiliar actions. The investigator performed a familiar action on each experimental object. The experimental actions were performed upon more familiar objects. Subjects' productions of these words and performance of these actions indicated that prior action performance did not influence action word production. Prior performance of object- related actions led to slower production acquisition. However, the subjects previously performed such actions for a greater number of the objects ultimately named. The children tended not to name exemplars for the first time or initially lexicalize concepts while performing an object-related or referent action.