Investigating orthographic versus auditory cross-situational word learning with online and lab-based research

Abstract

In recent years, cross-situational word learning (CSWL) paradigms have shown that novel words can be learned through implicit statistical learning. So far, CSWL studies using adult populations have focused on the presentation of spoken words (auditory information), however, words can also be learned through their written form (orthographic information). This study compares auditory and orthographic presentation of novel words with different degrees of phonological overlap using the CSWL paradigm. Additionally, we also present a lab-based and online-based approach to testing behavioural experiments. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lab testing was prematurely terminated, and testing was continued online using a newly created online testing protocol. Analyses first compared accuracy and response times across modalities, with our findings showing better and faster recognition performance for CSWL when novel words are presented through their written (orthographic condition) than through their spoken forms (auditory condition). As well, Bayesian modelling found that accuracy for the auditory condition was higher online compared to the lab-based experiment, whereas performance in the orthography condition was high in both experiments and generally outperformed the auditory condition. We discuss the implications of our findings for modality of presentation, as well as the benefits of our online testing protocol and its implementation for future research.

Music Perception Abilities and Ambiguous Word Learning: Is There Cross-Domain Transfer in Nonmusicians?

“…Performance across pair types appears to be very similar and participants were able to learn all pair types during the task, as evidence by performance being significantly above chance (see Figure 2 ). Accuracy for these learners is similar, albeit a little lower, to that found in a previous study (between 0.60 and 0.70 for all pair types) using the exact same design and online testing methodology ( Escudero et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Fifty-four participants took part in the study and were tested online, which is our common practice since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, using our validated online testing protocols ( Escudero et al, 2021 ). In Escudero et al (2021) , we compared online and face-to-face testing using the same CSWL design and online testing results were found to be very similar to results from the laboratory.…”

“…We followed our adult online testing protocol, which was validated in Escudero et al (2021) , for details please see on https://osf.io/nwr5d/ . In short, participants signed up for a timeslot on SONA after which they received an email with specific instructions for the experiment (e.g., wearing headphones and participating from a silent study space with no background noise was required) and an invitation for a Zoom call.…”

Four-Year-Old's Online Versus Face-to-Face Word Learning via eBooks

“…Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, face-to-face testing to increase this sample size has not been possible. Although similar sample sizes have been reported in previous, similar studies (Giezen et al, 2016;Pino Escobar et al, 2018;Junttila and Ylinen, 2020), we acknowledge this as a potential limitation, which can be overcome with extra data collection when the current pandemic allows or by using a Bayesian approach when comparing inperson and online results [see for instance Escudero et al (2020) and Escudero et al (2021)].…”

“…The proposed online testing paradigm has the potential to be adapted to a multitude of developmental tasks and measures (e.g., video-based tasks, physical tasks that can be demonstrated to the child and require verbal or gestural responses), and may be implemented with child participants of varying ages [e.g., Escudero et al (2021) reports a similar paradigm for online testing of adult participants]. In the current study, we focus on replicating a word learning study that we had previously conducted in a face-to-face environment prior to the COVID-19 outbreak [which is reported within a larger study in Pino Escobar et al (under review)].…”