{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T14:20:34Z","timestamp":1783088434307,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778544000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778544000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["#BCS\u20101551629"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#BCS\u20101551629"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["#BCS\u20102336013\/2336014"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#BCS\u20102336013\/2336014"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["#DGE\u20101449815"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#DGE\u20101449815"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Developmental Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"abstract":"ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n \n \n \n The ability to represent both local and nonlocal syntactic dependencies emerges in an infant's second year of life, raising questions about how these early syntactic representations interact with language learning in other domains. Using\n wh<\/jats:italic>\n \u2010questions as our case study, we investigate how infants\u2019 syntactic dependency acquisition interacts with their early lexical development. Prior work finds that 18\u2010month\u2010olds represent fronted\n wh<\/jats:italic>\n \u2010phrases as nonlocal arguments in object\n wh<\/jats:italic>\n \u2010questions with known verbs. Here, we show that 19\u201321\u2010month\u2010olds (range: 18;29\u201321;26) do the same when interpreting unknown verbs. We introduce a novel Violation of Fit method, a cross\u2010modal extension of the Violation of Expectations paradigm. Infants saw dialogues with novel verbs in object\n wh<\/jats:italic>\n \u2010questions (e.g.,\n What is the girl gonna gorp?<\/jats:italic>\n ), transitive polar questions (\n Is the girl gonna gorp the toy?<\/jats:italic>\n ), or intransitive polar questions\n (Is the girl gonna gorp?<\/jats:italic>\n ). At test, infants viewed a causal event (e.g., a girl knocks over a tower), and we measured their attention as an indication of whether they considered the verbs to be a good fit for this type of event. Across the age range, we found that infants who heard\n wh<\/jats:italic>\n \u2010question dialogues attended similarly to the test events as infants who heard canonical transitive dialogues, and unlike infants who heard intransitive dialogues. Thus, 19\u201321\u2010month\u2010olds treat object\n wh<\/jats:italic>\n \u2010questions with a novel verb as transitive when relating them to scenes. This suggests that immediately after\n wh<\/jats:italic>\n \u2010dependency representations are first acquired, they are available to feed verb learning.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Summary<\/jats:title>\n \n \n \n \n We find that 19\u201321\u2010month\u2010olds represent wh\u2010phrases (e.g.,\n what<\/jats:italic>\n ) as nonlocal objects in wh\u2010questions with unknown verbs (e.g.,\n What is the girl gonna gorp?<\/jats:italic>\n ).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n We introduce a novel experimental paradigm, Violation of Fit, which measures how well an infant considers a particular sentence to fit with a particular scene.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n This test reveals that infants treat object wh\u2010questions with a novel verb as transitive, and therefore a good fit to a causal event.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n \n This suggests that immediately after wh\u2010dependency representations are first acquired, they are available to feed verb learning.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:list-item>\n <\/jats:list>\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/desc.70207","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T14:02:24Z","timestamp":1778594544000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Representations of Nonlocal Syntactic Dependencies Feed Verb Learning in Infancy"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"29","author":[{"given":"Laurel","family":"Perkins","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Linguistics University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles California USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanfan","family":"Ying","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Brain and Mind Institute Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexander","family":"Williams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Linguistics University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA"},{"name":"Department of Philosophy University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8829-1495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jeffrey","family":"Lidz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Linguistics University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01690965.2011.641744"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2016.00138"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2009.10.015"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0010-0277(85)90008-3"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v067.i01"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","unstructured":"Brandone A. D. A.Addy R.Pulverman R. M.Golinkoff andK.Hirsh\u2010Pasek.2006. \u201cOne\u2010for\u2010One and Two\u2010for\u2010Two: Anticipating Parallel Structure Between Events and Language.\u201d InProceedings of the 30th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development 36\u201347."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","unstructured":"Bunger A. andJ.Lidz.2004. \u201cSyntactic Bootstrapping and the Internal Structure of Causative Events.\u201d InProceedings of the 28th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development 74\u201385."},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_11_9_1","first-page":"43","article-title":"Thematic Relations as a Cue to Verb Class: 2\u2010Year\u2010Olds Distinguish Unaccusatives From Unergatives","volume":"14","author":"Bunger A.","year":"2008","journal-title":"University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/s15516709cog2706_2"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_11_1","volume-title":"Habit X: A New Program for Obtaining and Organizing Data in Infant Perception and Cognition Studies (Version 1.0)","author":"Cohen L. B.","year":"2004"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_12_1","volume-title":"MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: User's Guide and Technical Manual","author":"Fenson L.","year":"1993"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_13_1","first-page":"120","volume-title":"Readings in English Transformational Grammar","author":"Fillmore C. J.","year":"1970"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/tops.12447"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10489223.2015.1115048"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327817la0101_2"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/4575.003.0009"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_18_1","unstructured":"Hirzel M. R.2022. \u201cIsland Constraints: What Is There for Children to Learn?\u201d PhD thesis University of Maryland."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_19_1","unstructured":"Hirzel M. R. L.Perkins andJ.Lidz.2020. \u201c19 Month\u2010Olds Represent and Incrementally Parse Filler\u2010Gap Dependencies.\u201d In3rd Annual CUNY Human Sentence Processing Conference. (Online) [Poster]. osf.io\/v3k27."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_20_1","first-page":"69","article-title":"A Multifactor Model of Infant Preferences for Novel and Familiar Stimuli","volume":"5","author":"Hunter M. A.","year":"1988","journal-title":"Advances in Infancy Research"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-024-51982-7"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_22_1","unstructured":"Jin K.\u2010S. andC.Fisher.2014. \u201cEarly Evidence for Syntactic Bootstrapping: 15\u2010Month\u2010Olds Use Sentence Structure in Verb Learning.\u201d InProceedings of the 38th Boston University Conference on Language Development."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0036399"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-9280.01454"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_25_1","volume-title":"Language and Experience: Evidence From the Blind Child","author":"Landau B.","year":"1985"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511610479"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2004.02.005"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cogpsych.2017.06.002"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/rev0000450"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_30_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15475441.2014.978331"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_31_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0305000900013817"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_32_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1551-6709.2011.01175.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_33_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15248371003699977"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_34_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2021.104942"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_35_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/cogs.13080"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_36_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15475441.2024.2372663"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_37_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10489223.2019.1659274"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_38_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2026469118"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_39_1","unstructured":"Perkins L. V.Mateu andN.Hyams.2025. \u201c28\u2010Month\u2010Olds Use Inferred Thematic Relations to Bootstrap Intransitive Verb Meanings.\u201d InProceedings of the 49th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development 561\u2013574."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_40_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Perkins L. Y.Ying A.Williams andJ.Lidz.2026. \u201cDataset: Representations of Non\u2010Local Syntactic Dependencies Feed Verb Learning in Infancy.\u201dOSF Repository.https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17605\/OSF.IO\/WFKEJ.","DOI":"10.1111\/desc.70207"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_41_1","volume-title":"Language Learnability and Language Development","author":"Pinker S.","year":"1984"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_42_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15475441.2015.1018420"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_43_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/S15327078IN0104_9"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_44_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0012-1649.18.5.704"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_45_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0305000903005695"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_46_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01690960802573236"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_47_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/S15327078IN0403_06"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_48_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/41102"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_49_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaa3799"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_50_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10489223.1995.9671658"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_51_1","unstructured":"Tam\u00e1si K.2016. \u201cMeasuring Children's Sensitivity to Phonological Detail Using Eye Tracking and Pupillometry.\u201d PhD thesis Universit\u00e4t Potsdam."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_52_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jecp.2016.07.014"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_53_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cogpsych.2007.06.003"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_54_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781139042864"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_55_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2009.02341.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_56_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8624.2012.01783.x"}],"container-title":["Developmental Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/desc.70207","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1111\/desc.70207","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/desc.70207","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/desc.70207","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T13:32:15Z","timestamp":1783085535000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/desc.70207"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1111\/desc.70207"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/desc.70207","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["1363-755X","1467-7687"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1363-755X","type":"print"},{"value":"1467-7687","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2025-11-13","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-04-10","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-05-12","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e70207"}}