Covering the Eyes or Mouth of a Speaker Does Not Prevent Word Learning in Typically Developing Infants.
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| Title: | Covering the Eyes or Mouth of a Speaker Does Not Prevent Word Learning in Typically Developing Infants. |
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| Authors: | Birulés, Joan1,2 (AUTHOR) joanbirules@gmail.com, Pascalis, Olivier1 (AUTHOR), Méary, David1 (AUTHOR), Fort, Mathilde1,3 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Developmental Psychology. May2026, Vol. 62 Issue 5, p1012-1024. 13p. |
| Subject Terms: | *School environment, *Infant psychology, *Learning strategies, *Vocabulary, *Language acquisition, Research funding, Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, Linguistics, Attention in children, Confidence intervals, Data analysis software, Video recording |
| Abstract: | Infant gaze-following skills and selective attention to the mouth of talking faces during their first year correlate with their vocabulary growth in their second year. This correlational evidence has led to the hypothesis that these attentional strategies are key mechanisms supporting word acquisition, a process which drastically improves during toddlerhood. If so, covering the eyes or mouth region of a talking face that teaches toddlers novel word–object associations should disrupt or diminish their word learning performance. To test this relationship causally, we recorded eye gaze in 17- to 42-month-old toddlers (N = 153) while performing an audiovisual fast-mapping task in one of three conditions: (a) full face, where the speaker's face was fully visible; (b) glasses, where the eye region was covered with black opaque glasses; and (c) mask, where the mouth and nose were covered with a black surgical mask. The results showed that toddlers aged 24 months and above learned the new word–object associations and, crucially, that they did so independently of condition. Moreover, correlational evidence showed that word learning performance related with toddlers' gaze-following behavior (i.e., target-object looking and face-target shifts) but not with attention to the eyes or mouth. These findings suggest that the capacity for object word–form association from a quick audiovisual interaction emerges around 24 months and that toddlers' optimal attentional strategy at this stage involves social understanding and object exploration rather than focusing on speakers' eyes or mouth. The implications of these results are discussed, particularly in the context of naturalistic vocabulary learning environments. Public Significance Statement: Our study reveals that toddlers can learn new words even when the speaker's eyes or mouth are covered. Interestingly, we found that word learning is associated with gaze-following behaviors like target-object looking and face-target shifts, but not with eyes or mouth looking. This highlights the importance of social referencing and/or attentional control rather than facial cues in natural word learning environments, during the second year of life and after. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Developmental Psychology is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 192773857 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Covering the Eyes or Mouth of a Speaker Does Not Prevent Word Learning in Typically Developing Infants. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Birulés%2C+Joan%22">Birulés, Joan</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> joanbirules@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pascalis%2C+Olivier%22">Pascalis, Olivier</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Méary%2C+David%22">Méary, David</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fort%2C+Mathilde%22">Fort, Mathilde</searchLink><relatesTo>1,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Developmental+Psychology%22">Developmental Psychology</searchLink>. May2026, Vol. 62 Issue 5, p1012-1024. 13p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+environment%22">School environment</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Infant+psychology%22">Infant psychology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learning+strategies%22">Learning strategies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vocabulary%22">Vocabulary</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Chi-squared+test%22">Chi-squared test</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Linguistics%22">Linguistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attention+in+children%22">Attention in children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Confidence+intervals%22">Confidence intervals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Video+recording%22">Video recording</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Infant gaze-following skills and selective attention to the mouth of talking faces during their first year correlate with their vocabulary growth in their second year. This correlational evidence has led to the hypothesis that these attentional strategies are key mechanisms supporting word acquisition, a process which drastically improves during toddlerhood. If so, covering the eyes or mouth region of a talking face that teaches toddlers novel word–object associations should disrupt or diminish their word learning performance. To test this relationship causally, we recorded eye gaze in 17- to 42-month-old toddlers (N = 153) while performing an audiovisual fast-mapping task in one of three conditions: (a) full face, where the speaker's face was fully visible; (b) glasses, where the eye region was covered with black opaque glasses; and (c) mask, where the mouth and nose were covered with a black surgical mask. The results showed that toddlers aged 24 months and above learned the new word–object associations and, crucially, that they did so independently of condition. Moreover, correlational evidence showed that word learning performance related with toddlers' gaze-following behavior (i.e., target-object looking and face-target shifts) but not with attention to the eyes or mouth. These findings suggest that the capacity for object word–form association from a quick audiovisual interaction emerges around 24 months and that toddlers' optimal attentional strategy at this stage involves social understanding and object exploration rather than focusing on speakers' eyes or mouth. The implications of these results are discussed, particularly in the context of naturalistic vocabulary learning environments. Public Significance Statement: Our study reveals that toddlers can learn new words even when the speaker's eyes or mouth are covered. Interestingly, we found that word learning is associated with gaze-following behaviors like target-object looking and face-target shifts, but not with eyes or mouth looking. This highlights the importance of social referencing and/or attentional control rather than facial cues in natural word learning environments, during the second year of life and after. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Developmental Psychology is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1037/dev0002016 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 13 StartPage: 1012 Subjects: – SubjectFull: School environment Type: general – SubjectFull: Infant psychology Type: general – SubjectFull: Learning strategies Type: general – SubjectFull: Vocabulary Type: general – SubjectFull: Language acquisition Type: general – SubjectFull: Research funding Type: general – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics Type: general – SubjectFull: Chi-squared test Type: general – SubjectFull: Linguistics Type: general – SubjectFull: Attention in children Type: general – SubjectFull: Confidence intervals Type: general – SubjectFull: Data analysis software Type: general – SubjectFull: Video recording Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Covering the Eyes or Mouth of a Speaker Does Not Prevent Word Learning in Typically Developing Infants. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Birulés, Joan – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Pascalis, Olivier – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Méary, David – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Fort, Mathilde IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 05 Text: May2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00121649 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 62 – Type: issue Value: 5 Titles: – TitleFull: Developmental Psychology Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
