@article{SajiSaalbachGrosseetal., author = {Saji, Noburo and Saalbach, Henrik and Große, Gerlind and Schulze, Cornelia and Imai, Mutsumi}, title = {Cross-linguistic comparison of color word learning in German and Japanese children shows universal and language-specific processes}, series = {Scientific reports}, volume = {15}, journal = {Scientific reports}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-025-23286-3}, pages = {12}, abstract = {This study examines how German- and Japanese-speaking children acquire the meanings of color words, focusing on two theoretically distinct processes: centroid mapping and boundary delineation. While previous cross-linguistic studies have typically addressed these aspects in isolation, this paper explicitly investigates both processes simultaneously, assessing language-specific and perceptual factors contributing to lexical acquisition. Using previously collected Japanese data (re-analyzed here for comparative purposes) and newly collected German data, we explore how input frequency, naming inconsistency, category size, and perceptual saliency influence these processes. Our findings show that centroid mapping in both languages is primarily shaped by input frequency, that is, children learn prototypical meanings by hearing the respective color words often. In contrast, boundary delineation is predicted by naming consistency in adult speakers, that is, children's differentiation of color categories is based on the consistency with which adults refer to the same color with the same word. The structural characteristics of each language's lexicon affect these qualitative aspects, highlighting an interplay between perceptual constraints and language-specific lexical structures. This comparative approach provides novel insights into lexical and conceptual development, contributing to broader theoretical debates on continuity and discontinuity in semantic acquisition and informing computational models of lexical development.}, subject = {Deutsch}, language = {en} } @article{LindnerMoellerHildebrandtetal., author = {Lindner, Nadja and Moeller, Korbinian and Hildebrandt, Frauke and Hasselhorn, Marcus and Lonnemann, Jan}, title = {Training children's spatial language skills improves their numerical magnitude understanding}, series = {Learning and Instruction : The journal of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)}, volume = {99}, journal = {Learning and Instruction : The journal of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0959-4752}, doi = {10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102191}, pages = {11}, abstract = {Background There is accumulating evidence suggesting that spatial language skills are associated with early numerical development (i.e., verbal number skills and numerical magnitude understanding). However, intervention studies allowing for a causal interpretation of this association are largely missing. Aims Therefore, we aimed at investigating the effects of training children's spatial language skills on the development of basic numerical skills. Sample The intervention group comprised n = 54 and the non-trained control group n = 72 4-6-year-old children (Mage = 60.58 months). Methods In a pre-post-test control group design small groups of four to eight children were trained six times (mostly twice a week) for about 20 min each. The training focused on production and comprehension of the spatial terms in front of, behind, to the left, and to the right with effects on numerical magnitude understanding and verbal number skills being evaluated. Results Comparing training and control group on performance gains between pre- and post-test revealed significantly higher gains for the intervention group in spatial language production and comprehension as well as numerical magnitude understanding, but not verbal number skills. Conclusion These findings provide first evidence for a causal link between children's spatial language skills and the development of their numerical magnitude understanding. This highlights the relevance of mastering specific spatial language terms for children's early numerical development.}, subject = {Spracherwerb}, language = {en} } @article{GlauerSixtusKacheletal., author = {Glauer, Ramiro and Sixtus, Elena and Kachel, Gregor and Lonnemann, Jan and Hildebrandt, Frauke}, title = {Children's understanding of demonstratives}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {15}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1403528}, abstract = {Demonstratives ("this"/"that") express a speaker-relative distance contrast and need to be substituted for each other systematically: depending on their relative position, what one speaker refers to by saying "this" another speaker has to refer to by saying "that." This substitution aspect of demonstratives poses additional difficulties for learning demonstratives, because it requires recognizing that two speakers have to refer to the same thing with different words, and might be one reason for the reportedly protracted acquisition of demonstratives. In an online study conducted in German, it was investigated whether children in the estimated upper age range of demonstrative acquisition (5 to 7 years) understand demonstratives' substitution aspect with familiar ("dies"/"das") and novel ("schmi"/"schmu") demonstratives, and whether they understand novel words ("schmi"/"schmu") when used non-demonstratively as labels (N = 73; between-subject). Children's accuracy was compared with adult performance (N = 74). The study shows that children between 5 and 7 years of age perform less accurately than adults in all conditions. While adults' performance was highly accurate in all conditions (between 75\% and 92\% correct), children performed below chance in both demonstrative conditions and above chance in the labeling condition. This suggests that children do not understand demonstratives in the presented setup. More detailed analyses of children's response patterns indicate that they instead treat words as mutually exclusive labels in any condition.}, subject = {Demonstrativpronomen}, language = {en} } @incollection{HildebrandtGlauer, author = {Hildebrandt, Frauke and Glauer, Ramiro}, title = {K{\"u}sse dein Gehirn : wie wir uns und die Welt sch{\"o}ner und reicher machen}, series = {Spielplatz Sprache : Kindersprachen st{\"a}rken}, booktitle = {Spielplatz Sprache : Kindersprachen st{\"a}rken}, publisher = {wamiki}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-96791-017-9}, publisher = {Fachhochschule Potsdam}, pages = {11 -- 17}, subject = {Spielplatz}, language = {de} } @article{HildebrandtGlauer, author = {Hildebrandt, Frauke and Glauer, Ramiro}, title = {K{\"u}sse dein Gehirn!}, series = {WamiKi : Das p{\"a}dagogische Fachmagazin}, volume = {2021}, journal = {WamiKi : Das p{\"a}dagogische Fachmagazin}, number = {5}, publisher = {Was mit Kindern GmbH}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2363-7714}, pages = {35 -- 41}, subject = {Kindersprache}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{ImaiSajiGrosseetal., author = {Imai, Mutsumi and Saji, Noburo and Große, Gerlind and Schulze, Cornelia and Asano, Michiko and Saalbach, Henrik}, title = {General mechanisms of color lexicon acquisition : insights from comparison of German and Japanese speaking children}, series = {Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society}, organization = {Cognitive Science Society}, pages = {3315 -- 3320}, abstract = {This research investigated how German-speaking children learn color words, both in terms of centroid mappings and boundary delineation, and how they construct the color lexicon as a connected system. The results were compared to those of Japanese children to draw insights on general mechanisms that underlie the acquisition of words in the color lexicon. For both languages, input frequency and category size contributed to the ease of learning. In contrast, in both language groups, naming (in)consistency in adults predicted the adult-like boundary delineation.}, subject = {Kindersprache}, language = {en} } @incollection{SchulzeGrosseSpreer, author = {Schulze, Cornelia and Große, Gerlind and Spreer, Markus}, title = {Erwerb pragmatischer F{\"a}higkeiten und m{\"o}gliche St{\"o}rungen (im Kindesalter)}, series = {Handbuch Pragmatik}, booktitle = {Handbuch Pragmatik}, publisher = {Metzler}, address = {Stuttgart}, isbn = {978-3-476-04624-6}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-476-04624-6_17}, pages = {177 -- 185}, abstract = {Seit im Zuge der kognitiven Wende in der Psychologie vormals behavioristisch erkl{\"a}rte Ph{\"a}nomene kognitivistisch untermauert wurden (z. B. Bandura 1965; Chomsky 1959), hat sich auch in der Linguistik eine Bewegung weg von der Universalgrammatik Noam Chomskys (1965) hin zu einer sozial-kognitiv erkl{\"a}rten (vgl. Langacker 1987; Goldberg 2006) und gebrauchsbasierten (vgl. Tomasello 2003) Konstruktionsgrammatik als sprachsystematisches Modell etabliert. Infolgedessen widmeten sich viele Autoren der Frage, wie Kinder Sprache und vor allem den pragmatisch angemessenen Gebrauch von Sprache erwerben (vgl. Tomasello 2008) - wenn sie sich nicht aufgrund einer angeborenen language faculty (vgl. Hauser et al. 2002) entwickelt.}, subject = {Kindersprache}, language = {de} } @book{HildebrandtDreier, author = {Hildebrandt, Frauke and Dreier, Annette}, title = {Was w{\"a}re, wenn...?}, publisher = {das netz}, address = {Weimar}, isbn = {978-3-86892-065-9}, pages = {91}, subject = {Soziale Bindung}, language = {de} }