Developmental studies have shown that children’s object-directed actions promote learning about new objects. Moreover, acting on objects has been shown to be closely related to early gesture production, which in turn accompanies vocabulary acquisition. Together, these findings suggest a link between actions, gestures and vocabulary acquisition. But how are these related?
During pre-school years vocabulary size increases greatly and continues to grow during elementary school. Various studies have shown that vocabulary size in pre-schoolers is a strong predictor of a number of essential academic skills (e.g. morpho-syntax, narrative skills, reading, creative writing). Furthermore, a delay and slower development in expressive vocabulary can be used for the early identification of children at risk of language impairment. Nonetheless, only few studies to-date have been dedicated to investigating how object-directed actions may influence gestures and vocabulary acquisition during this developmental period.
The FORGE project aims to further our understanding of the relationship between a particular type of object-directed actions (i.e. sensory-motor object exploration) and communication, exploring how different types of sensory-motor experiences with novel objects affects words learning, and the role of gestures in this process, at a critical developmental period. To achieve this scientific goal the project aims to provide: (a) build and test a set of new smart objects and related materials to measure sensory-motor object exploration, integrating different technologies and methods derived from studies on language acquisition, gestures, motor skills and bio-engineering; (b) collect data on the relation between motor exploration and vocabulary acquisition in a group of pre-schoolers. The project also has a second aim in promoting transfer of knowledge and training which will be reached through: (a) topic-specific training in experimental psycholinguistics and studies on language acquisition; (b) hands-on experience in building smart objects and procedures allowing use of sensor-based technology with children; (c) transfer of knowledge on lab management, grant writing and organizing scientific events. All these activities will be carried out through a collaboration between the Language and Cognition Lab, within the Experimental Psychology Research Department at University College London – UCL and the Laboratory of Biomedical Robotics and Biomicrosystems (LBRB) at the University Campus Bio-Medico Rome – UCBM.
