Eye‐tracking studies tested the understanding of two types of speech acts (questions and assertions) in 14‐, 18‐, and 30‐month‐olds (N = 280; 149 females; ethnicity data collection forbidden, testing in 2021–2024). Experiments involved objects either hidden or visible for a speaker. By 14 months, when the speaker asked questions, infants focused on hidden objects (rs > 0.31). Infants linked novel labels in interrogative sentences to hidden objects by 18 months and novel labels in declarative sentences to visible objects by 14 months (ds > 0.52). Thus, infants assume questions seek information one is lacking, while assertions share information one has access to. Furthermore, infants connect interrogative sentences to questions and declarative sentences to assertions, showing an understanding of communicative form–function relations.

中文翻译：

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婴儿假设问题具有信息搜索功能，将它们与疑问句联系起来，并将它们与断言区分开来

眼动追踪研究测试了 14 个月、18 个月和 30 个月大婴儿对两种言语行为（问题和断言）的理解 （N = 280;149 名女性;禁止收集种族数据，在 2021-2024 年进行测试）。实验涉及对扬声器来说隐藏或可见的物体。到 14 个月大时，当说话者提问时，婴儿会专注于隐藏的物体 （rs > 0.31）。婴儿在 18 个月时将疑问句中的新标签与隐藏对象联系起来，在 14 个月时将陈述句中的新标签与可见对象联系起来 （ds > 0.52）。因此，婴儿假设问题寻求自己缺乏的信息，而断言则分享自己可以访问的信息。此外，婴儿将疑问句与疑问句联系起来，将陈述句与断言联系起来，表现出对交际形式-功能关系的理解。