Toddlerhood is marked by advances in several lexico-semantic skills, including improvements in the size and structure of the lexicon and increased efficiency in lexical processing. This project seeks to delineate how early changes in vocabulary size and vocabulary structure support lexical processing (Experiment 1), and how these three skills together (vocabulary size, structure, and lexical processing) relate to later language outcomes at age 3 (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 explored how the size and semantic structure of toddlers' vocabulary from 18 to 24 months (N = 61) predicted performance on two lexical processing tasks (semantically related and semantically unrelated trials). Denser semantic connectivity (i.e., global level connectivity between near and far neighbors) positively associated with semantic interference during semantically related lexical processing, whereas denser category structure (i.e., lower-level connectivity between near neighbors) facilitated lexical processing in semantically unrelated trials. In Experiment 2, a subset of the same children (N = 49) returned at age 36 months and completed a comprehensive assessment of their language skills using the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental, Preschool 2 (CELF-P2). Here, earlier measures of lexico-semantic connectivity and lexical processing best predicted age 3 language skill. The findings support accounts that early vocabulary structure and lexical processing skills promote continued growth in language. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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词汇中的词汇语义结构及其与幼儿期词汇处理和三岁语言结果的联系。

学步期的标志是多项词汇语义技能的进步，包括词汇量和结构的改进以及词汇处理效率的提高。该项目旨在描述词汇量和词汇结构的早期变化如何支持词汇处理（实验 1），以及这三种技能（词汇量、结构和词汇处理）如何与 3 岁时的后期语言结果相关（实验 2） . 实验 1 探讨了 18 至 24 个月 (N = 61) 幼儿词汇量的大小和语义结构如何预测两项词汇处理任务（语义相关和语义无关试验）的表现。更密集的语义连接（即 近邻和远邻之间的全局级连通性）在语义相关的词汇处理过程中与语义干扰正相关，而更密集的类别结构（即近邻之间的低级连通性）促进了语义无关试验中的词汇处理。在实验 2 中，相同儿童的子集 (N = 49) 在 36 个月大时返回，并使用学前语言基础临床评估 2 (CELF-P2) 完成了对他们语言技能的综合评估。在这里，词汇语义连接和词汇处理的早期测量最好地预测了 3 岁的语言技能。这些发现支持早期词汇结构和词汇处理技能促进语言持续发展的说法。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。