Current evidence about influence of speech signs on concept formation in early childhood

The article analyzes the current empirical data concerning the impact of speech signs on infants’ concept learning. We confirm that influence of speech on the processes of categorization in infants affects all the aspects of their conceptual thinking: generalization, differentiation, individuation and inductive inference. On the basis of this review we distinguish two opposite theoretical positions in terms of which it is possible to explain the impact of speech on concept formation and demonstrate to what extent the main statements in each position depend on research techniques.

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