The development of perceptual grouping biases in infancy: a Japanese-English cross-linguistic study. Yoshida, K. A, Iversen, J. R, Patel, A. D, Mazuka, R., Nito, H., Gervain, J., & Werker, J. F Cognition, 115(2):356-61, 2010.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
Perceptual grouping has traditionally been thought to be governed by innate, universal principles. However, recent work has found differences in Japanese and English speakers' non-linguistic perceptual grouping, implicating language in non-linguistic perceptual processes (Iversen, Patel, & Ohgushi, 2008). Two experiments test Japanese- and English-learning infants of 5-6 and 7-8 months of age to explore the development of grouping preferences. At 5-6 months, neither the Japanese nor the English infants revealed any systematic perceptual biases. However, by 7-8 months, the same age as when linguistic phrasal grouping develops, infants developed non-linguistic grouping preferences consistent with their language's structure (and the grouping biases found in adulthood). These results reveal an early difference in non-linguistic perception between infants growing up in different language environments. The possibility that infants' linguistic phrasal grouping is bootstrapped by abstract perceptual principles is discussed.
@Article{Yoshida2010,
  author   = {Katherine A Yoshida and John R Iversen and Aniruddh D Patel and Reiko Mazuka and Hiromi Nito and Judit Gervain and Janet F Werker},
  journal  = {Cognition},
  title    = {The development of perceptual grouping biases in infancy: a {J}apanese-{E}nglish cross-linguistic study.},
  year     = {2010},
  number   = {2},
  pages    = {356-61},
  volume   = {115},
  abstract = {Perceptual grouping has traditionally been thought to be governed
	by innate, universal principles. However, recent work has found differences
	in Japanese and English speakers' non-linguistic perceptual grouping,
	implicating language in non-linguistic perceptual processes (Iversen,
	Patel, & Ohgushi, 2008). Two experiments test Japanese- and English-learning
	infants of 5-6 and 7-8 months of age to explore the development of
	grouping preferences. At 5-6 months, neither the Japanese nor the
	English infants revealed any systematic perceptual biases. However,
	by 7-8 months, the same age as when linguistic phrasal grouping develops,
	infants developed non-linguistic grouping preferences consistent
	with their language's structure (and the grouping biases found in
	adulthood). These results reveal an early difference in non-linguistic
	perception between infants growing up in different language environments.
	The possibility that infants' linguistic phrasal grouping is bootstrapped
	by abstract perceptual principles is discussed.},
  doi      = {10.1016/j.cognition.2010.01.005},
  keywords = {20144456},
}

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