Reexamining the vocabulary spurt.

Productive Vocabulary Size Predicts Event-related Potential Correlates of Fast Mapping in 20-Month-Olds

Although it is well documented that children undergo a productive vocabulary spurt late in the second year, it is unclear whether this development is accompanied by equally significant advances in receptive word processing. In the present study, we tested an electrophysiological procedure for assessing receptive word learning in young children, and the impact of productive vocabulary size for p...

The Reorganization of Communicative Behaviors around the Onset of the Vocabulary Spurt : A Dynamic Systems Approach

The interplay between language, gesture, and affect during communicative transition: a dynamic systems approach.

From a dynamic systems perspective, transition points in development are times of increased instability, during which behavioral patterns are susceptible to temporary decoupling. This study investigated the impact of the vocabulary spurt on existing patterns of communicative coordination. Eighteen typically developing infants were videotaped at home 1 month before, at, and after the vocabulary ...

Modelling vocabulary growth from birth to young adulthood

There has been considerable debate over the existence of the ‘vocabulary spurt’ phenomenon an apparent acceleration in word learning that is commonly said to occur in children around the age of 18 months. This paper presents an investigation into modelling the phenomenon using data from almost 1800 children. The results indicate that the acquisition of a receptive/productive lexicon can be quit...

SECTION 2. RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES Language Development and Emotional Expression

The relation of language and emotion in development is most often thought about in terms of how language describes emotional experiences with words that name different feelings. However, children typically do not begin to use these words until language development is well underway, at approximately 2 years of age. Given the relatively small number of words for naming feelings and emotions, and ...