Brief Report Developmental differences in children’s context-dependent word learning Haley A. Vlach ⇑ , Catherine M. Sandhofer Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA article info Article history: Received 18 June 2010 Revised 25 September 2010 Keywords: Context effects Word learning Generalization Memory Cognitive development Category learning Categorization Memory development Language development abstract In this study, 2.5-, 3-, and 4-year-olds (N = 108) participated in a novel noun generalization task in which background context was manipulated. During the learning phase of each trial, children were presented with exemplars in one or multiple background contexts. At the test, children were asked to generalize to a novel exemplar in either the same or a different context. The 2.5-year-olds’ perfor- mance was supported by matching contexts; otherwise, children in this age group demonstrated context dependent generalization. The 3-year-olds’ performance was also supported by matching contexts; however, children in this age group were aided by train- ing in multiple contexts as well. Finally, the 4-year-olds demon- strated high performance in all conditions. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between word learning and memory processes; both general memory development and memory developments specific to word learning (e.g., retention of linguistic labels) are likely to support word learning and generalization. Published by Elsevier Inc. Introduction Research on children’s word learning and generalization has focused primarily on how children determine and use information that is relevant to the category or task at hand. For example, research has demonstrated that children generalize new words based on perceptual properties of an object cat- egory such as shape (e.g., Landau, Jones, & Smith, 1988). However, less is known about how children use information that is less relevant to the task, such as the background context, to generalize words. In this study, we examined how changes in contextual information across learning and testing events affect children’s developing word learning and generalization. 0022-0965/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2010.09.011 ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: haleyvlach@ucla.edu (H.A. Vlach). Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 108 (2011) 394–401 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Experimental Child Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jecp