Effects of face masks on language comprehension in bilingual children

Singh, Leher; Quinn, Paul C.

doi:10.1111/infa.12543

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…At an individual and/or social level, racial or gender diversity can introduce a broader range of social categories in a learner’s environment. In a recent example, the coronavirus disease pandemic may have increased complexity of the social visual environment by introducing a wider variety of ways in which speech is presented given variable use of face coverings (Bayet, 2022; DeBolt & Oakes, 2023; Singh & Quinn, 2023; Singh et al, 2021b). In this way, it is not clear to what extent effects of linguistic complexity are unique in their impact on behavior.…”

Section: Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of environmental diversity on exploration and learning: The case of bilingualism.

Singh,

Barr,

Quinn

et al. 2024

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Bilingual environments provide a commonplace example of increased complexity and uncertainty. Learning multiple languages entails mastery of a larger and more variable range of sounds, words, syntactic structures, pragmatic conventions, and more complex mapping of linguistic information to objects in the world. Recent research suggests that bilingual learners demonstrate fundamental variation in how they explore and learn from their environment, which may derive from this increased complexity. In particular, the increased complexity and variability of bilingual environments may broaden the focus of learners' attention, laying a different attentional foundation for learning. In this review, we introduce a novel framework, with accompanying empirical evidence, for understanding how early learners may adapt to a more complex environment, drawing on bilingualism as an example. Three adaptations, each relevant to the demands of abstracting structure from a complex environment, are introduced. Each adaptation is discussed in the context of empirical evidence attesting to shifts in basic psychological processes in bilingual learners. This evidence converges on the notion that bilingual learners may explore their environment more broadly. Downstream consequences of broader sampling for perception and learning are discussed. Finally, recommendations for future research to expand the scientific narrative on the impact of diverse environments on learning are provided. Public Significance StatementThis article focuses on how bilingual experience, as a source of environmental diversity, determines how learners attend to their environment. The premise of the article is that more diverse environments are more complex and may instill different modes of learning and attention, fostering greater attention to novelty.

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