More efficient formation of longer-term representations for word forms at birth can be linked to better language skills at 2 years

Establishing neural representations for new word forms in 12-month-old infants

“…As a result, predicted items result in weak or no prediction error signals (i.e., weaker brain responses), whereas unpredicted items evoke strong prediction error signals (i.e., stronger brain responses). This pattern was observed in our previous study of newborn infants ( Suppanen et al, 2022 ). However, it is not clear how the processes and neural signatures of prediction and recognition change when infants are able to establish word representations during the second half of the first year of life.…”

“… The first syllables of the familiarized disyllabic word forms create predictions for their familiarized second syllable. Because AD and AX violate the familiarized continuation of the AB word form, they should cause within-word prediction errors, as shown in our previous studies ( Ylinen et al, 2017 ; Suppanen et al, 2022 ). However, these prediction errors are expected to differ from each other (see additional hypotheses III and IV; Suppanen et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Because AD and AX violate the familiarized continuation of the AB word form, they should cause within-word prediction errors, as shown in our previous studies ( Ylinen et al, 2017 ; Suppanen et al, 2022 ). However, these prediction errors are expected to differ from each other (see additional hypotheses III and IV; Suppanen et al, 2022 ). The response to the syllable X in AX should show the effects of novelty, as the X syllable has not appeared during the familiarization phase, and it was also rare within the test sequences.…”

“…Infants readily learn from their auditory environment, including features of their native language spoken by their family. For example, infants can extract different patterns or rules from speech they hear (statistical learning; Gómez and Gerken, 2000 ; Saffran and Kirkham, 2018 ) and make predictions based on them ( Emberson et al, 2019 ; Suppanen et al, 2022 ). Our previous research has suggested that the ability of newborn infants to learn from speech exposure and to make predictions about future input is linked to their later language skills ( Suppanen et al, 2022 ).…”

“…For example, infants can extract different patterns or rules from speech they hear (statistical learning; Gómez and Gerken, 2000 ; Saffran and Kirkham, 2018 ) and make predictions based on them ( Emberson et al, 2019 ; Suppanen et al, 2022 ). Our previous research has suggested that the ability of newborn infants to learn from speech exposure and to make predictions about future input is linked to their later language skills ( Suppanen et al, 2022 ). Learning from speech also enables infants to start building their mental lexicon during the first year of life, which requires the establishment of word representations in the brain that link the phonological representation of the word form with the corresponding semantic representation ( Gupta and Tisdale, 2009 ).…”