Adapting language development research paradigms to online testing: Data from preferential looking, word learning and vocabulary assessment in toddlers

Abstract

During the recent pandemic, it became necessary to adapt lab-based studies to online experiments. To investigate the impact of online testing on the quality of data, we focus on three paradigms widely used in infant research: a word recognition task using the Intermodal Preferential Looking Paradigm, a word learning task using the Switch task, and a language assessment tool (WinG) where children identify a target word amongst a set of picture cards. Our results for synchronous and asynchronous studies provide support for the robustness of online testing. In Experiment 1, robust word recognition was found in 24-month-old toddlers. In Experiment 2, 17-month-old infants consistently learned a new word. Finally, Experiment 3 demonstrated that 19- to 26-month-old children performed well on a language assessment test administered online. Overall, effect sizes or language scores were found to be higher than in lab-based studies. These experiments point to promising possibilities for reaching out to families around the world.

Comparing child word associations to adult associative norms: Evidence for child-specific associations with a strong priming effect in 3-year-olds

“…To test the strength of association in the unique child WAs found in Experiments 1 and 2, Experiment 3 employs a receptive task. An online adaptation of the primed intermodal-preferential looking (IPL-see Arias-Trejo & Plunkett, 2009;Jardak & Byers-Heinlein, 2019;Styles & Plunkett, 2009) paradigm was developed for this purpose, after first validating an online word recognition IPL task (Nguyen, Fitzpatrick, & Floccia, 2024). Experiment 3 compared the magnitude of a semantic priming effect between child-specific associations, adult-specific associations, and associations found in both adults and children.…”