publications

* indicates equal contribution

Preprints

Under Review

1. Peekbank: An open, large-scale repository for developmental eye-tracking data of children’s word recognition

   Zettersten, M., Yurovsky, D., Xu, T. L., Uner, S., Tsui, A., Schneider, R. M., Saleh, A. N., Meylan, S. C., Marchman, V., Mankewitz, J., MacDonald, K., Long, B., Lewis, M., Kachergis, G., deMayo, B., Carstensen, A., Braginsky, M., Boyce, V., Bhatt, N., Bergey, C. A., and Frank, M.C.

   Accepted. 2022

   Abs PsyArXiv OSF bibtex

   The ability to rapidly recognize words and link them to referents is central to children’s early language development. This ability, often called word recognition in the developmental literature, is typically studied in the looking-while-listening paradigm, which measures infants’ fixation on a target object (vs. a distractor) after hearing a target label. We present a large-scale, open database of infant and toddler eye-tracking data from looking-while-listening tasks. The goal of this effort is to address theoretical and methodological challenges in measuring vocabulary development. We first present how we created the database, its features and structure, and associated tools for processing and accessing infant eye-tracking datasets. Using these tools, we then work through two illustrative examples to show how researchers can use Peekbank to interrogate theoretical and methodological questions about children’s developing word recognition ability.

   @preprint{zettersten2022peekbank,
     author = {Zettersten, M. and Yurovsky, D. and Xu, T. L. and Uner, S. and Tsui, A. and Schneider, R. M. and Saleh, A. N. and Meylan, S. C. and Marchman, V. and Mankewitz, J. and MacDonald, K. and Long, B. and Lewis, M. and Kachergis, G. and deMayo, B. and Carstensen, A. and Braginsky, M. and Boyce, V. and Bhatt, N. and Bergey, C. A. and Frank, M.C.},
     title = {Peekbank: An open, large-scale repository for developmental eye-tracking data of children’s word recognition},
     journal = {Behavior and Research Methods},
     status = {Accepted},
     year = {2022},
     psyarxiv = {tgnzv},
     osf = {pr6wu}
   }

Peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings

2021

1. Quantifying Lexical Ambiguity in Speech To and From English-Learning Children

   Meylan*, S., Mankewitz*, J., Floyd, S., Rabagliati, H., and Srinivasan, M.

   In Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. 2021

   Abs PsyArXiv OSF bibtex

   Because words have multiple meanings, language users must often choose appropriate meanings according to the context of use. How this potential ambiguity affects first language learning, especially word learning, is unknown. Here, we present the first large-scale study of how children are exposed to, and themselves use, ambiguous words in their language learning environments. We tag 180,000 words in two longitudinal child language corpora with word senses from WordNet, focusing between 9 and 51 months and limiting to words from a popular parental vocabulary report. We then compare the diversity of sense usage in adult speech around children to that observed in a sample of adult language, as well as the diversity of sense usage in children's own productions. To accomplish this we use a Bayesian model-based estimate of sense entropy, a measure of diversity that takes into account uncertainty inherent in small sample sizes. This reveals that sense diversity in caregivers' speech to children is similar to that observed in a sample of adult-directed written material, and that children's use of nouns---but not verbs---is similarly diverse to that of adults. Finally, we show that sense entropy is a significant predictor of vocabulary development: children begin to produce words with a higher diversity of adult sense usage at later ages. We discuss the implications of our findings for theories of word learning.

   @inproceedings{meylanmankewitz2021lexicalambiguity,
     author = {Meylan*, S. and Mankewitz*, J. and Floyd, S. and Rabagliati, H. and Srinivasan, M.},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society},
     title = {Quantifying Lexical Ambiguity in Speech To and From English-Learning Children},
     year = {2021},
     psyarxiv = {zxkm2},
     osf = {9uqrv},
     category = {conference proceedings}
   }

2. Peekbank: Exploring children’s word recognition through an open, large-scale repository for developmental eye-tracking data

   Zettersten, M., Bergey, C. A., Bhatt, N., Boyce, V., Braginsky, M., Carstensen, A., deMayo, B., Kachergis, G., Lewis, M., Long, B., MacDonald, K., Mankewitz, J., Meylan, S. C., Saleh, A. N., Schneider, R. M., Tsui, A., Uner, S., Xu, T. L., Yurovsky, D., and Frank, M.C.

   In Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. 2021

   Abs PsyArXiv OSF bibtex

   The ability to rapidly recognize words and link them to referents in context is central to children's early language development. This ability, often called word recognition in the developmental literature, is typically studied in the looking-while-listening paradigm, which measures infants' fixation on a target object (vs. a distractor) after hearing a target label. We present a large-scale, open database of infant and toddler eye-tracking data from looking-while-listening tasks. The goal of this effort is to address theoretical and methodological challenges in measuring vocabulary development. We present two analyses of the current database (N=1,320): (1) capturing age-related changes in infants' word recognition while generalizing across item-level variability and (2) assessing how a central methodological decision -- selecting the time window of analysis -- impacts the reliability of measurement. Future efforts will expand the scope of the current database to advance our understanding of participant-level and item-level variation in children's vocabulary development.

   @inproceedings{zettersten2021peekbank,
     author = {Zettersten, M. and Bergey, C. A. and Bhatt, N. and Boyce, V. and Braginsky, M. and Carstensen, A. and deMayo, B. and Kachergis, G. and Lewis, M. and Long, B. and MacDonald, K. and Mankewitz, J. and Meylan, S. C. and Saleh, A. N. and Schneider, R. M. and Tsui, A. and Uner, S. and Xu, T. L. and Yurovsky, D. and Frank, M.C.},
     booktitle = {Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society},
     title = {Peekbank: Exploring children’s word recognition through an open, large-scale repository for developmental eye-tracking data},
     year = {2021},
     psyarxiv = {ep693},
     osf = {pr6wu},
     category = {conference proceedings}
   }

Peer-reviewed Conference Presentations

2022

1. Typological variation in predicting early word learning across languages

   Loukatou, G., Tan, A., Braginsky, M., Mankewitz, J., and Frank, M.C.

   Poster to be presented by Alvin Tan at the 47th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD). nov 2022

   @misc{loukatoubucld2022,
     author = {Loukatou, G. and Tan, A. and Braginsky, M. and Mankewitz, J. and Frank, M.C.},
     howpublished = {Poster to be presented by Alvin Tan at the 47th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD)},
     title = {Typological variation in predicting early word learning across languages},
     month = nov,
     year = {2022}
   }

2021

1. Multi-party referential communication in complex strategic games

   Mankewitz, J.*, Boyce, V.*, Waldon, B., Loukatou, G., Yu, D., Mu, J., Goodman, N.D., and Frank, M.C.

   Talk presented at the Meaning in Context Workshop at the 35th Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2021). dec 2021

   Abs PsyArXiv OSF Github

   Verbal communication is an ubiquitous aspect of human interaction occurring in many contexts; however, it is primarily studied in the limited context of two people communicating information. Understanding communication in complex, multi-party interactions is both a scientific challenge for psycholinguistics and an engineering challenge for creating artificial agents who can participate in these richer contexts. We adapted the reference game paradigm to an online 3-player game where players refer to objects in order to coordinate selections based on the available utilities. We ran games with shared or individual payoffs and with or without access to language. Our paradigm can also be used for artificial agents; we trained reinforcement learning-based agents on the same task as a comparison. Our dataset shows the same patterns found in simpler reference games and contains rich language of reference and negotiation.

   @misc{mankewitzboyce2021,
     author = {Mankewitz, J.* and Boyce, V.* and Waldon, B. and Loukatou, G. and Yu, D. and Mu, J. and Goodman, N.D. and Frank, M.C.},
     status = {Submitted for Review},
     title = {Multi-party referential communication in complex strategic games},
     howpublished = {Talk presented at the Meaning in Context Workshop at the 35th Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2021)},
     month = dec,
     year = {2021},
     psyarxiv = {tfb3d},
     osf = {3kudj},
     github = {vboyce/aa-flowers}
   }

2. English-learning children hear and use multiple meanings for words in early speech

   Mankewitz, J., Meylan, S., Floyd, S., Rabagliati, H., and Srinivasan, M.

   Talk presented at the 46th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD). nov 2021

   @misc{meylanmankewitzbucld2021,
     author = {Mankewitz, J. and Meylan, S. and Floyd, S. and Rabagliati, H. and Srinivasan, M.},
     howpublished = {Talk presented at the 46th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD)},
     title = {English-learning children hear and use multiple meanings for words in early speech},
     month = nov,
     year = {2021}
   }

3. Increases in speed and accuracy of children’s online word recognition measured via a large-scale, open database of developmental eye-tracking data

   Zettersten, M., Saleh, A. N., Bhatt, N., Yurovsky, D., Xu, T. L., Uner, S., Tsui, A., Schneider, R. M., Meylan, S. C., Marchman, V., Mankewitz, J., MacDonald, K., Long, B., Lewis, M., Kachergis, G., deMayo, B., Carstensen, A., Braginsky, M., Boyce, V., Bergey, C. A., and Frank, M.C.

   Talk presented by Martin Zettersten at the 46th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD). nov 2021

   @misc{zettersten2021peekbank2,
     author = {Zettersten, M. and Saleh, A. N. and Bhatt, N. and Yurovsky, D. and Xu, T. L. and Uner, S. and Tsui, A. and Schneider, R. M. and Meylan, S. C. and Marchman, V. and Mankewitz, J. and MacDonald, K. and Long, B. and Lewis, M. and Kachergis, G. and deMayo, B. and Carstensen, A. and Braginsky, M. and Boyce, V. and Bergey, C. A. and Frank, M.C.},
     howpublished = {Talk presented by Martin Zettersten at the 46th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD)},
     title = {Increases in speed and accuracy of children’s online word recognition measured via a large-scale, open database of developmental eye-tracking data},
     month = nov,
     year = {2021}
   }

4. An Online Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) of Children's Vocabulary Development in English and Mexican Spanish

   Kachergis, G., Marchman, V., Dale, P., Mehta, H., Mankewitz, J., and Frank, M.

   Poster presented by Philip Dale at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention. nov 2021

   @misc{kachergis2021adaptivecdiasha,
     author = {Kachergis, G. and Marchman, V. and Dale, P. and Mehta, H. and Mankewitz, J. and Frank, M.},
     howpublished = {Poster presented by Philip Dale at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention},
     title = {An Online Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) of Children's Vocabulary Development in English and Mexican Spanish},
     month = nov,
     year = {2021}
   }

5. Quantifying Lexical Ambiguity in Speech To and From English-Learning Children

   Meylan*, S., Mankewitz*, J., Floyd, S., Rabagliati, H., and Srinivasan, M.

   Talk presented by Stephan Meylan at the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. jul 2021

   @misc{meylanmankewitz2021lexicalambiguity,
     author = {Meylan*, S. and Mankewitz*, J. and Floyd, S. and Rabagliati, H. and Srinivasan, M.},
     howpublished = {Talk presented by Stephan Meylan at the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society},
     title = {Quantifying Lexical Ambiguity in Speech To and From English-Learning Children},
     month = jul,
     year = {2021}
   }

6. Peekbank: Exploring children’s word recognition through an open, large-scale repository for developmental eye-tracking data

   Zettersten, M., Bergey, C. A., Bhatt, N., Boyce, V., Braginsky, M., Carstensen, A., deMayo, B., Kachergis, G., Lewis, M., Long, B., MacDonald, K., Mankewitz, J., Meylan, S. C., Saleh, A. N., Schneider, R. M., Tsui, A., Uner, S., Xu, T. L., Yurovsky, D., and Frank, M.C.

   Poster presented by Martin Zettersten at the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. jul 2021

   @misc{zettersten2021peekbank,
     author = {Zettersten, M. and Bergey, C. A. and Bhatt, N. and Boyce, V. and Braginsky, M. and Carstensen, A. and deMayo, B. and Kachergis, G. and Lewis, M. and Long, B. and MacDonald, K. and Mankewitz, J. and Meylan, S. C. and Saleh, A. N. and Schneider, R. M. and Tsui, A. and Uner, S. and Xu, T. L. and Yurovsky, D. and Frank, M.C.},
     howpublished = {Poster presented by Martin Zettersten at the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society},
     title = {Peekbank: Exploring children’s word recognition through an open, large-scale repository for developmental eye-tracking data},
     month = jul,
     year = {2021}
   }

7. An Online Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) of Children's Vocabulary Development in English and Mexican Spanish

   Kachergis, G., Marchman, V., Dale, P., Mehta, H., Mankewitz, J., and Frank, M.

   Poster presented by George Kachergis at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (SRCD). apr 2021

   @misc{kachergis2021adaptivecdi,
     author = {Kachergis, G. and Marchman, V. and Dale, P. and Mehta, H. and Mankewitz, J. and Frank, M.},
     howpublished = {Poster presented by George Kachergis at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (SRCD)},
     title = {An Online Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) of Children's Vocabulary Development in English and Mexican Spanish},
     month = apr,
     year = {2021}
   }