New research agenda could help shed light on early language,
cognitive development
Researchers are digging deeper into whether infants’ ability
to learn new words is shaped by the particular language being acquired.
A new Northwestern University study cites a promising new
research agenda aimed at bringing researchers closer to discovering the impact
of different languages on early language and cognitive development.
For decades, researchers have asked why infants learn new
nouns more rapidly and more easily than new verbs. Many researchers have
asserted that the early advantage for learning nouns over verbs is a universal
feature of human language.