Catherine M Sandhofer
Biographic Data
| ID | 239199 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Catherine M Sandhofer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Catherine M |
| FAMILY NAME | Sandhofer |
| SIGNATURE | SANDHOFER C M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0488-7185 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Curiosity as a catalyst for conceptual change
Curiosity is widely recognized as a driver of exploration and learning, yet existing theories often under-specify the mechanisms through which curiosity transforms knowledge over time. This paper introduces the Schema Expansion and Error-driven Knowledge-building (SEEK) model, a novel, process-based framework that positions curiosity as a cognitive engine of long-term knowledge development. Drawing on schema theory, SEEK conceptualizes learning a…
How do emotion words impact children’s emotion learning
Previous research suggests that the use of emotion labels helps children to learn about emotions. However, the mechanism behind this relation remains somewhat elusive. The present study examined 3-year-old children's ( N = 72; M age = 3.51 years; 42 female) ability to match faces to emotional vignettes, and the role that the use of emotion labels plays in this process. Parents identified participating children as White ( N = 37), multiracial ( N …
Emotion words link faces to emotional scenarios in early childhood
Recent theories have suggested that emotion words may facilitate the development of emotion concepts. The present study investigates whether emotion words affect children's performance on an emotion category learning task. Across two experiments, 72 three-year-old children (49 female) were asked to identify which emotional face best matched particular emotional scenarios during nine pretest and nine posttest trials. The scenarios in the present s…
Sorting out emotions
The ability to categorize emotions has long-term implications for children's social and emotional development. Therefore, identifying factors that influence early emotion categorization is of great importance. Yet, whether and how language impacts emotion category development is still widely debated. The present study aimed to assess how labels influence young children's ability to group faces into emotion categories for both earliest-learned and…
Contextual variation in language input to children
Children learn what words mean from hearing words used across a variety of contexts. Understanding how different contextual distributions relate to the words young children say is critical because context robustly affects basic learning and memory processes. This study examined children's everyday experiences using naturalistic video recordings to examine two contextual factors-where words are spoken and who speaks the words-through analyzing the…
Arbitrary but predictive cues support attention to overlooked features
As children learn words, they develop attentional biases that support word learning but are hard to overcome. Predictive contextual cues may help increase attention to non-biased, or overlooked, features. This study sought to direct 3-year-old children’s attention to texture, a feature typically overlooked when categorizing new words early in development. During training, half of the children learned novel shape (a biased feature) and texture (an…
Early Language Environments Predict Aspects of Explicit Language Awareness Development
Although language awareness is typically defined as the explicit understanding of language's functions and conventions, much evidence on the influence of diverse language environments on language awareness has shown implicit understandings of language. In contrast, this study examined whether exposure to linguistic diversity predicted monolingual children's explicit language awareness. We examined four aspects of children's explicit language awar…
Parental numeric language input to Mandarin Chinese and English speaking preschool children
The present study examined the number-specific parental language input to Mandarin- and English-speaking preschool-aged children. Mandarin and English transcripts from the CHILDES database were examined for amount of numeric speech, specific types of numeric speech and syntactic frames in which numeric speech appeared. The results showed that Mandarin-speaking parents talked about number more frequently than English-speaking parents. Further, the…
Acquisition of the cardinal word principle
Gender Biases in Early Number Exposure to Preschool-Aged Children
Despite dramatically narrowing gender gaps, women remain underrepresented in mathematics and math-related fields. Parents can shape expectations and interests, which may predict later differences in achievement and occupational choices. This study examines children’s early mathematical environments by observing the amount that mothers talk to their sons and daughters (mean age 22 months) about cardinal number, a basic precursor to mathematics. In…
Counting nouns and verbs in the input
Previous research has focused on evaluating the nouns and verbs in parents' input through type/token ratios. This research offers an additional means of evaluating parent speech by first examining the frequencies of individual nouns, verbs and descriptors and second examining the learning task presented to children. Study 1 examines 25 transcripts from the CHILDES database of English-speaking parents' speech to children at five developmental leve…
Learning color words involves learning a system of mappings
This research examines the difficulty children encounter when acquiring 2 specific sets of adjectives, color and size words, and suggests that children must acquire a system of mapping in learning these words. Children were assessed on 4 types of mappings (word-word maps, property-property maps, word-property maps, and word-word-property maps) by completing 3 color tasks. Children also participated in comparable tasks for size words. In Study 1, …
Acquisition of the cardinal word principle
Learning color words involves learning a system of mappings
This research examines the difficulty children encounter when acquiring 2 specific sets of adjectives, color and size words, and suggests that children must acquire a system of mapping in learning these words. Children were assessed on 4 types of mappings (word-word maps, property-property maps, word-property maps, and word-word-property maps) by completing 3 color tasks. Children also participated in comparable tasks for size words. In Study 1, …
Early Language Environments Predict Aspects of Explicit Language Awareness Development
Although language awareness is typically defined as the explicit understanding of language's functions and conventions, much evidence on the influence of diverse language environments on language awareness has shown implicit understandings of language. In contrast, this study examined whether exposure to linguistic diversity predicted monolingual children's explicit language awareness. We examined four aspects of children's explicit language awar…
Learning color words involves learning a system of mappings
This research examines the difficulty children encounter when acquiring 2 specific sets of adjectives, color and size words, and suggests that children must acquire a system of mapping in learning these words. Children were assessed on 4 types of mappings (word-word maps, property-property maps, word-property maps, and word-word-property maps) by completing 3 color tasks. Children also participated in comparable tasks for size words. In Study 1, …
Counting nouns and verbs in the input
Previous research has focused on evaluating the nouns and verbs in parents' input through type/token ratios. This research offers an additional means of evaluating parent speech by first examining the frequencies of individual nouns, verbs and descriptors and second examining the learning task presented to children. Study 1 examines 25 transcripts from the CHILDES database of English-speaking parents' speech to children at five developmental leve…
Parental numeric language input to Mandarin Chinese and English speaking preschool children
The present study examined the number-specific parental language input to Mandarin- and English-speaking preschool-aged children. Mandarin and English transcripts from the CHILDES database were examined for amount of numeric speech, specific types of numeric speech and syntactic frames in which numeric speech appeared. The results showed that Mandarin-speaking parents talked about number more frequently than English-speaking parents. Further, the…
Acquisition of the cardinal word principle
Gender Biases in Early Number Exposure to Preschool-Aged Children
Despite dramatically narrowing gender gaps, women remain underrepresented in mathematics and math-related fields. Parents can shape expectations and interests, which may predict later differences in achievement and occupational choices. This study examines children’s early mathematical environments by observing the amount that mothers talk to their sons and daughters (mean age 22 months) about cardinal number, a basic precursor to mathematics. In…
Early Language Environments Predict Aspects of Explicit Language Awareness Development
Although language awareness is typically defined as the explicit understanding of language's functions and conventions, much evidence on the influence of diverse language environments on language awareness has shown implicit understandings of language. In contrast, this study examined whether exposure to linguistic diversity predicted monolingual children's explicit language awareness. We examined four aspects of children's explicit language awar…
Arbitrary but predictive cues support attention to overlooked features
As children learn words, they develop attentional biases that support word learning but are hard to overcome. Predictive contextual cues may help increase attention to non-biased, or overlooked, features. This study sought to direct 3-year-old children’s attention to texture, a feature typically overlooked when categorizing new words early in development. During training, half of the children learned novel shape (a biased feature) and texture (an…
Emotion words link faces to emotional scenarios in early childhood
Recent theories have suggested that emotion words may facilitate the development of emotion concepts. The present study investigates whether emotion words affect children's performance on an emotion category learning task. Across two experiments, 72 three-year-old children (49 female) were asked to identify which emotional face best matched particular emotional scenarios during nine pretest and nine posttest trials. The scenarios in the present s…
Sorting out emotions
The ability to categorize emotions has long-term implications for children's social and emotional development. Therefore, identifying factors that influence early emotion categorization is of great importance. Yet, whether and how language impacts emotion category development is still widely debated. The present study aimed to assess how labels influence young children's ability to group faces into emotion categories for both earliest-learned and…
Contextual variation in language input to children
Children learn what words mean from hearing words used across a variety of contexts. Understanding how different contextual distributions relate to the words young children say is critical because context robustly affects basic learning and memory processes. This study examined children's everyday experiences using naturalistic video recordings to examine two contextual factors-where words are spoken and who speaks the words-through analyzing the…
How do emotion words impact children’s emotion learning
Previous research suggests that the use of emotion labels helps children to learn about emotions. However, the mechanism behind this relation remains somewhat elusive. The present study examined 3-year-old children's ( N = 72; M age = 3.51 years; 42 female) ability to match faces to emotional vignettes, and the role that the use of emotion labels plays in this process. Parents identified participating children as White ( N = 37), multiracial ( N …
Curiosity as a catalyst for conceptual change
Curiosity is widely recognized as a driver of exploration and learning, yet existing theories often under-specify the mechanisms through which curiosity transforms knowledge over time. This paper introduces the Schema Expansion and Error-driven Knowledge-building (SEEK) model, a novel, process-based framework that positions curiosity as a cognitive engine of long-term knowledge development. Drawing on schema theory, SEEK conceptualizes learning a…
Psychology (11 works) · Developmental psychology (9 works) · Linguistics (8 works) · Child and Animal Learning Development (6 works) · Cognitive psychology (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Artificial Intelligence (4 works) · Language Development and Disorders (4 works) · Reading and Literacy Development (4 works) · Categorization (3 works)