The effect of prosodic congruency on novel adjective learning in adults and children

Prosody is used to indicate emotions, disambiguate syntax, and provide meaning. Less is known about prosody in word learning, but congruent prosody (e.g., loud/low pitch for large) leads to better memory than incongruent prosody (e.g., quiet/high pitch for large) for novel adjectives in adults (Shintel, Anderson, & Fenn, 2014). Children may also benefit from congruent prosodic information in word learning. This current research explores prosodic congruency and novel adjective learning in adults (Study 1) and preschool children (Study 2). Participants learned novel adjectives that were either congruent or incongruent in prosody and then they were tested in an implicit/picture task and an explicit/definition task. Although the prosody was not necessary to learn the words, the congruent condition showed greater accuracy than the incongruent condition across both tasks for adults and for the explicit task for children. This is the first demonstration that preschool children can benefit from congruent prosody, not just for referent selection, but also for learning novel adjectives. •Prosody is used to indicate emotions, disambiguate syntax, and provide meaning.•Less is known about prosody in word learning, especially in preschool children.•Novel adjectives trained with either congruent (loud=big) or incongruent prosody.•Adults and children tested in an implicit/picture task and an explicit/definition task.•Congruency more accurate on both adult tests and on explicit test for children.