Categorization in Infancy: When Sounds and Labels Hinder Category Learning

Why do linguistic labels facilitate category learning more than other types of auditory input? From one perspective, it has been argued that effects of labels stem from young infants having broad assumptions that labels and categories are linked. From a different perspective, it is possible that both labels and sounds deplete attentional resources and hinder category learning, with sounds attenuating visual processing more than linguistic labels. The current study investigated effects of auditory input on categorization in 12-month-old infants, and the findings are consistent with the latter view: compared to a silent condition, both linguistic labels and nonlinguistic sounds hindered category learning in young infants, and differential effects of labels and sounds stemmed from nonlinguistic sounds interfering with category learning more than labels. The role of auditory input in a variety of cognitive tasks is discussed.