Maturation constrains the effect of exposure in linking language and thought: evidence from healthy preterm infants

• Published in: Developmental science Vol. 21; no. 2
• Main Authors: Perszyk, Danielle R., Ferguson, Brock, Waxman, Sandra R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley-Blackwell 01.03.2018; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Auditory Perception; Child Development; Cognition; Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Processes; Familiarity; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature - growth & development; Infants; Language; Language Acquisition; Language Development; Male; Maturation; Newborn babies; Novelty (Stimulus Dimension); Preferences; Premature babies; Premature Infants; Recognition, Psychology
• ISSN: 1363-755X; 1467-7687; 1467-7687
• DOI: 10.1111/desc.12522

The power of human language rests upon its intricate links to human cognition. By 3 months of age, listening to language supports infants’ ability to form object categories, a building block of cognition. Moreover, infants display a systematic shift between 3 and 4 months – a shift from familiarity to novelty preferences – in their expression of this link between language and core cognitive processes. Here, we capitalize on this tightly‐timed developmental shift in fullterm infants to assess (a) whether it also appears in preterm infants and (b) whether it reflects infants’ maturational status or the duration of their postnatal experience. Healthy late preterm infants (N = 22) participated in an object categorization task while listening to language. Their performance, coupled with that of fullterm infants, reveals that this developmental shift is evident in preterm infants and unfolds on the same maturational timetable as in their fullterm counterparts. Fullterm infants form object categories while listening to language: At 3 months they demonstrate familiarity preferences, whereas at 4 months and beyond they demonstrate novelty preferences. Healthy preterm infants also successfully form object categories while listening to language, and they shift from familiarity to novelty preferences at the same maturational age as their fullterm peers.