By 15 months, infants begin to learn new words for objects, even those they've never seen

By 15 months, infants begin to learn new words for objects, even those they've never seen

A new study by developmental scientists offers the first evidence that infants as young as 15 months can identify an object they have learned about from listening to language -- even if the object remains hidden.

Babies Learn Words Without Visuals

Infants as young as 15 months can use language context to infer the meaning of words referring to objects they’ve never seen. Researchers found that when 15-month-olds heard a new word in a familiar context—like "kumquat" during a conversation about fruit—they later identified the unseen object correctly.

Study suggests toddlers can learn new words without visual cues

(Photo by cottonbro studio via Pexels) By Stephen Beech Toddlers at 15 months begin to learn new words for objects that they’ve never seen, suggests a study. The findings provide evidence that infants can learn words from language alone, say American scientists. They explained that human language allows people to learn new words for things we’ve never witnessed directly. Adults do so seamlessly, for example, in conversations, using clues from th…

By 15 months, infants begin to learn new words for objects — even if they’ve never seen them

A new study by developmental scientists at Northwestern University and Harvard University offers the first evidence that infants as young as 15 months can identify an object they have learned about from listening to language — even if the object remains hidden.

New research identified that 15-month-old babies (about one year and three months old) are able to identify objects they've never seen just by context, through names. In those of one year (12 months), this capacity has not yet proven to be well developed. Read more (04/23/2025)