A Johns Hopkins study shows toddlers learn better when they have to puzzle meanings of words out for themselves.
Senior student Meredith Brinster?s original research suggests learning words by inference is more powerful for 3-year-olds than being told their meaning.
Brinster showed the youngsters both familiar and strange objects ? for instance, a ball and a plumber’s “T” connector. After saying a nonsense word like “blicket,” she asked them to identify the “matching” item. Since a ball is a “ball,” the children might conclude that the unfamiliar object ? the “T” ? was the “blicket.”
Children who learned names that way were more likely to get the imaginary names right later in casual play.
A Johns Hopkins Provost?s Undergraduate Research Award funded Brinster?s work. She will address the Society for Research in Child Development in Boston March 29.
