Quantity and quality of early word learning from the infant’s view
Official title: Quantity Meets Quality: Examining input statistics for early word learning from the infant’s point of view
Funded at University of Texas at Austin · NIH-11411489 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A funded project will study how babies learn words in everyday environments by watching where babies look and listening to parents talk during play, reading, and meals.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Texas at Austin NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Austin, United States) |
| Project start | September 6, 2025 |
| Project end | May 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $331,729 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD119490-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11411489 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Infants aged 12–24 months and their language-learning families in the Austin, Texas area.
✕Less likely to help
Families outside the age range or location, or those not participating in home-like observations, may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project uses a HOME (Home-like Observational Multimodal Environment) to study how 12- to 24-month-olds and their parents create language input in real life settings. Researchers will wear head-mounted eye-tracking to capture where infants look as parents name objects, and how these moments relate to the child’s attention. The study focuses on everyday activities rather than lab-only tasks to better reflect real-world language learning. The goal is to understand the natural statistics of input that support early word learning. Results could inform how caregivers and environments support a child’s language development.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could guide parents and educators on strategies to support early word learning in everyday settings.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows that naturalistic language input influences early vocabulary, but this project adds precise eye-tracking in real-life contexts to map attention to named objects.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yu, Chen — University of Texas at Austin
- Study coordinator: Yu, Chen
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.