Toddlers use speech disfluencies to predict speakers' referential intentions.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Non-randomized cross-sectional developmental eye-tracking study comparing multiple age cohorts
PubMed 21676111 · doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01049.x
What was done
Researchers conducted an eye-tracking experiment evaluating whether infants and toddlers use speech disfluencies (such as filled pauses 'uh' and 'um') to infer a speaker's intended referent prior to explicit object labeling. The study evaluated three age cohorts: older toddlers (ages 2;4 to 2;8) and two younger groups (ages 1;8 to 2;2 and 1;4 to 1;8).
What was found
Older toddlers (ages 2;4 to 2;8) reliably attended to speech disfluencies in online comprehension to anticipate intended referents before object labeling occurred. Data from the two younger groups suggested that this predictive ability emerges around 2 years of age. The abstract reports no numerical values, fixation proportions, effect sizes, or test statistics.
Why it matters
This study provides evidence that speech disfluencies function as informative cues rather than mere noise during early language acquisition, helping toddlers anticipate referential intent.
Limits
The abstract omits total sample size, participant selection criteria, experimental controls, and all quantitative metrics (such as effect sizes and confidence intervals). As an experimental eye-tracking task, generalizability to varied real-world conversational settings was not detailed in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Child development research shows that adults speaking to children often preface new terms or concepts with filler words like 'um' or 'uh' to signal that important information follows.