Babies, dogs, and the riddles of word learning - Many Minds
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- Title
- Babies, dogs, and the riddles of word learning
- Description
- <p class="p1"><span class="s1">It's kind of astonishing, really, that kids ever learn words. Each one poses a little riddle. Does this sound string refer to a person? A category of things? Or maybe some other feature of the blooming, buzzing world? And yet word learning happens. In fact, we now know it begins earlier in infancy than we realized. And we now know, further, that dogs (or at least some dogs) understand words as well. So how does this happen? What do babies and dogs really know about words? And how might we go about figuring this all out?</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">My guests today are <a href= "https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/elika-bergelson"><span class="s2"> Dr. Elika Bergelson</span></a> and <a href= "https://www.doasido.it/claudia-fugazza/"><span class="s2">Dr. Claudia Fugazza</span></a>. Elika is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, where her lab studies how infants learn language. Claudia is a Researcher at</span> <span class="s3">Eötvös Loránd</span> <span class= "s1">University in Hungary, where she and her collaborators study dogs who are especially gifted word learners. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">In this conversation, Elika, Claudia, and I talk about the thorny question of what it means to understand a word—and whether there are different degrees or kinds of understanding. We consider the challenges posed by different types of words—by nouns, by names, by verbs, by function words, size terms, and more. We discuss why it is that some dogs are so good at learning words, and why infants of a certain age seem to get so much better at it. We talk about learning in different contexts and situations. And we circle the question of how different word learning really is in dogs and babies.</span><span class="s1"> </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Alright friends, before we get to it, one tiny ask: If you've been enjoying Many Minds, you can help us grow by leaving a review or comment or a rating, or by sharing us with a friend or colleague. We would greatly appreciate the support!</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Without further ado, on to my interview with Claudia Fugazza and Elika Bergelson. Enjoy!</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s2"> </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s2"><em>Notes</em></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">3:30 – A <a href= "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027722001986?casa_token=7RbYBnbnksgAAAAA:k5Yo3cBL8Qngpc-qpuJ58kwmlPbzHBzwRtScNyUikmuxJ7fAqiw2GWB5iK9hCcQN1GcXvVJInrY"> <span class="s2">paper</span></a> on infants' understanding of proper nouns like "Mommy."</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">6:00 – For our earlier audio essay on names across the animal kingdom, see <a href= "https://disi.org/in-search-of-names/"><span class= "s2">here</span></a>.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">11:00 – For Dr. Bergelson's early study showing that 6-month-old infants already understand the meanings of some words, see <a href= "https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1113380109"><span class= "s2">here</span></a>.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">13:30 – For more on the "comprehension boost" in infants after age one, see Dr. Elika's paper <a href= "https://academic.oup.com/cdpers/article-abstract/14/3/142/8231463"> <span class="s2">here</span></a>.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">16:30 – For Dr. Fugazza and colleagues' first studies on gifted word-learning dogs, see <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93581-2"><span class="s2"> here</span></a> and <a href= "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-81699-2"><span class= "s2">here</span></a>.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">20:00 – See earlier studies on <a href= "https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1097859?casa_token=JuS4sO-B_HUAAAAA%3AltX35sbf33pwb7IPNFTyeU291fx2JNQGdEJ5B_k1xCH0cyK26-82uSVAknupw1wRlEJjDThipnCk-nI"> <span class="s2">Rico</span></a> and <a href= "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-22T17:07:00+00:00
- Status
- completed
- Website
- https://manyminds.libsyn.com/babies-dogs-and-the-riddles-of-word-learning
- Length
- 78:39
- File
- /podcasts/Many Minds/1779469620-5311.mp3
- Size
- 108.03 MB
- Bitrate
- 187-CBR
- Channels
- 1
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