Infant Pathways to Language: Methods, Models, and Research Directions

Mission Tempe Palms, Phoenix, AZ

September 15-17, 2005

Nineteen research scholars from the U.S. and Canada met to share the latest research on infant language acquisition. Conference organizers John Colombo, of The University of Kansas, and Peggy McCardle, NIH, joined Mabel Rice, director of the Merrill Center, to conduct the opening session. Five panels of two or three speakers each shared their knowledge on subjects including recognizing language patterns, the relationship of patterns to meaning, predictors of language, and brain development. Peggy McCardle provided a stimulating finish to the two days of discussion with “Where Do We Go Now?”

This conference was supported by the Merrill Advanced Studies Center and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Pictured below, standing, left to right: Robert Barnhill, Gary Marcus, Patricia Kuhl, Jenny Saffran, Lou Ann Gerken, Richard Aslin, Leslie Cohen, Sandy Waxman, Andrew Meltzoff, and Judy DeLoache. Seated: Cathleen Petree, Richard Schiefelbusch, Mabel Rice, Lisa Freund, Peggy McCardle, John Colombo, Steven Warren, Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Janet Werker.

Resource

standing, left to right: Robert Barnhill, Gary Marcus, Patricia Kuhl, Jenny Saffran, Lou Ann Gerken, Richard Aslin, Leslie Cohen, Sandy Waxman, Andrew Meltzoff, and Judy DeLoache. Seated: Cathleen Petree, Richard Schiefelbusch, Mabel Rice, Lisa Freund, Peggy McCardle, John Colombo, Steven Warren, Susan Goldin-Meadow, and Janet Werker.

Conference Participants

University of Arizona

  • Lou Ann Gerken, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

University of British Columbia

  • Janet Werker, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Department of Psychology

University of Chicago

  • Susan Goldin-Meadow, Professor, Department of Psychology

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

  • Cathleen Petree, Sponsoring Editor of scholarly books in language and special education

Merrill Board Members

  • Robert Barnhill, Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer, The University of Texas System
  • John Colombo, Chair and Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Kansas
  • Mabel Rice, Fred and Virginia Merrill Distinguished Professor of Advanced Studies, Director, Child Language Program, University of Kansas
  • Richard Schiefelbusch, Professor Emeritus, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies, University of Kansas
  • Steven Warren, Director, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies, University of Kansas

New York University

  • Gary Marcus, Associate Professor, Psychology and Neural Science

National Institutes of Health

  • Lisa Freund, Neuropsychologist, Developmental Psychobiology and Cognitive Neuro, NICHD
  • Peggy McCardle, Linguist and Associate Branch Chief, Language, Bilingual, and Biliteracy Development and Disorders, NICHD

Northwestern University

  • Sandy Waxman, Professor, Department of Psychology

University of Rochester

  • Richard Aslin, William R. Kenan Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Science

University of Texas

  • Leslie Cohen, Professor, Department of Psychology

University of Virginia

  • Judy DeLoache, Professor, Department of Psychology

University of Washington

  • Patricia Kuhl, William P. and Ruth Gerberding University Professor, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
  • Andrew Meltzoff, Professor, Department of Psychology

University of Wisconsin

  • Jenny Saffran, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

Agenda

Mission Tempe Palms, Phoenix, AZ

September 15-17, 2005

Thursday, September 15

Reception

Dinner

Opening Session: Welcome and Remarks

  • Mabel Rice, Director, Merrill Center
  • John Colombo, University of Kansas, conference organizer
  • Peggy McCardle, NIH, conference organizer

Social Hour

Friday, September 16

Panel 1: Recognizing Patterns

  • Dick Aslin, University of Rochester, “What Statistical Learning Can and Can’t Tell us about Language Acquisition”
  • Patricia Kuhl, University of Washington, “Infant Speech Perception: Situating Early Language Acquisition Within a Neurobiological and Social Context”
  • Janet Werker, University of British Columbia, “Infant Speech Perception and Later Language Acquisition”
  • Discussion

Break

Panel 2: Recognizing Patterns II

  • Jenny Saffran, University of Wisconsin, “Acquiring Grammatical Patterns: Constraints on Learning”
  • Lou Ann Gerken, University of Arizona, “Input and Developmental Influences on Infant Generalization”
  • Discussion

Lunch

Panel 3: Patterns to Meaning

  • Andy Meltzoff, University of Washington, “Relations between Social Cognition and Early Language”
  • Judy DeLoache, University of Virginia, “Symbol-Based Acquisition of Information: Learning about the There and Then”
  • Discussion

Break

Panel 4: Predictors of Language Emergence

  • John Colombo, University of Kansas, “Attentional Predictors and Precursors of Language in the First Two Years”
  • Mabel Rice, University of Kansas, “Predicting Late Language Emergence at 24 Months: More about the Child, Less about Maternal and Family Influences”
  • Lisa Freund, NIH, “The NIH Pediatric Study of Normal Brain Development”
  • Discussion

Dinner

Saturday, September 17

Group Photo Session

Panel 5: Getting Meaning

  • Susan Goldin-Meadow, University of Chicago, “What Children’s Hands Tell us about the Role that Linguistic Input Plays in Language Learning”
  • Sandra Waxman, Northwestern University, “All in Good Time: How do Infants Discover Distinct Types of Words and Map Them to Distinct Kinds of Meaning?”
  • Discussion

Break

Panel 6: Models and Methods

  • Les Cohen, University of Texas, “Methods and Models in Early Labeling Research”
  • Gary Marcus, New York University, “What is the Language Faculty Made Of? Evidence from Human Infants and Molecular Biology”
  • Discussion

Summary Remarks

  • Peggy McCardle, NIH, “Where Do We Go Now?”