Influence of language-specific input on spatial cognition: Categories of containment

Abstract

This study examines whether language-specific input influences children's nonlinguistic spatial cognition as they acquire their first language. Recent research on infant cognition has shown that preverbal infants can make a distinction between tight-fit and loose-fit containment relations. This distinction is systematically made in Korean ( kkita‘fit tightly’), but not in English ( in). Using a preferential-looking method, this study tested sensitivity to the distinction in English and Korean learners at different ages: English learners were tested at 18, 24, 29 and 36 months, and Korean learners at 29 and 36 months of age. Results showed that while English learners weaken their sensitivity to the distinction by 29 months of age, Korean learners maintain high sensitivity to the distinction throughout the age periods tested. Language surveys of the English learners indicate that weakening of the sensitivity occurs as the children use the relevant spatial terms and increase their vocabulary level.