Researchers Uncover Specific Aspects of Story Comprehension in Young Children
For the first time, psycholinguists from the HSE Centre for Language and Brain, in collaboration with colleagues from the USA and Germany, recorded eye movements during a test to assess narrative skills in young children and adults. The researchers found that story comprehension depends on plot structure, and that children aged five to six tend to struggle with questions about protagonists' internal states. The study findings have been published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
The ability to perceive and produce coherent stories, also known as narrative skills, marks an important stage in the development of children's language and cognitive functions. Research shows that story comprehension develops in several stages, progressing from the simple perception of event sequences to the ability to interpret protagonists' actions and internal states, such as their thoughts, emotions, and intentions.
Specialised tests are employed to assess narrative skills. One of the most widely used tools for evaluating the narrative abilities of multilingual children is the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN). It includes four animal stories—Cat, Dog, Baby Goats, and Baby Birds—each told through a sequence of six pictures. The child's task is to produce a story based on pictures and answer ten questions about each story. The questions address the motives behind the protagonists' actions (such as ‘Why did the dog jump up the tree?’) as well as their internal states (eg ‘How does the dog feel?’)
Although the stories are similar in structural and visual complexity, some studies, in particular, those by researchers at Uppsala University—have shown that the Cat and Dog stories (Figure 1) may be easier for children to process than the Baby Goats and Baby Birds stories (Figure 2). One possible explanation is that children may find it particularly challenging to answer questions about the internal states of the story's protagonists, compared to questions about their motivations and goals. In a new study, researchers from the Centre for Language and Brain at HSE University, in collaboration with colleagues from the USA and Germany, tested this hypothesis and also investigated whether visual cues would make it easier for children to respond to questions about the protagonists' internal states.
The researchers conducted two experiments: one with 53 children aged five and six as the experimental group, and another with 20 young adults as the control group. Participants viewed the stories on a computer screen and answered questions about the protagonists' motives and internal states. In some cases, visual cues were provided, such as a circle drawn around a protagonist to attract attention to their facial expression. During the experiment, eye-tracking technology was used to record participants' eye movements, helping identify which elements of the story took them longer to process. The authors analysed the accuracy of responses to comprehension questions based on the story, the type of question, and the presence of a visual cue.
Although adults generally performed better on the test than children, the Baby Birds and Baby Goats stories were more difficult for all participants to comprehend compared to the Cat and Dog stories. This may be due to the number of protagonists and the plot structure: both the Cat and Dog stories feature fewer protagonists, with the pictures more clearly indicating their motives—eg the dog is hungry and wants to grab sausages from the boy’s bag. In contrast, the Baby Goats and Baby Birds stories involve more protagonists, whose motives may be less obvious, such as why the dog chases the cat away. In general, children performed worse on questions about the protagonists' internal states—for instance, how the dog felt when the mouse ran away in Picture 1—compared to questions about their goals, such as what they intended to do and why, like why the dog grabbed the sausages. Visual cues, while they helped draw attention to the details of the stories, did not improve the children’s ability to interpret the protagonists' emotions.
The study contributes to understanding the mechanisms underlying story perception in children and may be useful in developing new diagnostic methods for language disorders.
Vladislava Staroverova
'Our findings suggest that at the age of five or six, children lack sufficient cognitive experience to assess the internal states of protagonists in the pictures and find it more challenging to interpret the protagonists' internal world than their motives for actions. This knowledge can contribute to the development of programmes aimed at enhancing language skills and emotional intelligence,' explains Vladislava Staroverova, Junior Research Fellow at the Centre for Language and Brain and co-author of the study.
See also:
HSE Researchers Teach Neural Network to Distinguish Origins from Genetically Similar Populations
Researchers from the AI and Digital Science Institute, HSE Faculty of Computer Science, have proposed a new approach based on advanced machine learning techniques to determine a person’s genetic origin with high accuracy. This method uses graph neural networks, which make it possible to distinguish even very closely related populations.
HSE Economists Reveal the Secret to Strong Families
Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have examined the key factors behind lasting marriages. The findings show that having children is the primary factor contributing to marital stability, while for couples without children, a greater income gap between spouses is associated with a stronger union. This is the conclusion reported in Applied Econometrics.
Fifteen Minutes on Foot: How Post-Soviet Cities Manage Access to Essential Services
Researchers from HSE University and the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences analysed three major Russian cities to assess their alignment with the '15-minute city' concept—an urban design that ensures residents can easily access essential services and facilities within walking distance. Naberezhnye Chelny, where most residents live in Soviet-era microdistricts, demonstrated the highest levels of accessibility. In Krasnodar, fewer than half of residents can easily reach essential facilities on foot, and in Saratov, just over a third can. The article has been published in Regional Research of Russia.
HSE Researchers Find Counter-Strike Skins Outperform Bitcoin and Gold as Alternative Investments
Virtual knives, custom-painted machine guns, and gloves are common collectible items in videogames. A new study by scientists from HSE University suggests that digital skins from the popular video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) rank among the most profitable types of alternative investments, with average annual returns exceeding 40%. The study has been published in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), a free-access online repository.
‘We Describe Unwritten Languages’
Chiara Naccarato, Research Fellow at the HSE Linguistic Convergence Laboratory, graduated from university in Italy and came to Russia to study the languages of Dahgestan and the speech patterns of bilingual speakers. She notes the friendly atmosphere of the laboratory and the hospitality of the people of Daghestan.
HSE Neurolinguists Reveal What Makes Apps Effective for Aphasia Rehabilitation
Scientists at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have identified key factors that increase the effectiveness of mobile and computer-based applications for aphasia rehabilitation. These key factors include automated feedback, a variety of tasks within the application, extended treatment duration, and ongoing interaction between the user and the clinician. The article has been published in NeuroRehabilitation.
'Our Goal Is Not to Determine Which Version Is Correct but to Explore the Variability'
The International Linguistic Convergence Laboratory at the HSE Faculty of Humanities studies the processes of convergence among languages spoken in regions with mixed, multiethnic populations. Research conducted by linguists at HSE University contributes to understanding the history of language development and explores how languages are perceived and used in multilingual environments. George Moroz, head of the laboratory, shares more details in an interview with the HSE News Service.
Slim vs Fat: Overweight Russians Earn Less
Overweight Russians tend to earn significantly less than their slimmer counterparts, with a 10% increase in body mass index (BMI) associated with a 9% decrease in wages. These are the findings made by Anastasiia Deeva, lecturer at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and intern researcher in Laboratory of Economic Research in Public Sector. The article has been published in Voprosy Statistiki.
Scientists Reveal Cognitive Mechanisms Involved in Bipolar Disorder
An international team of researchers including scientists from HSE University has experimentally demonstrated that individuals with bipolar disorder tend to perceive the world as more volatile than it actually is, which often leads them to make irrational decisions. The scientists suggest that their findings could lead to the development of more accurate methods for diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder in the future. The article has been published in Translational Psychiatry.
Scientists Develop AI Tool for Designing Novel Materials
An international team of scientists, including researchers from HSE University, has developed a new generative model called the Wyckoff Transformer (WyFormer) for creating symmetrical crystal structures. The neural network will make it possible to design materials with specified properties for use in semiconductors, solar panels, medical devices, and other high-tech applications. The scientists will present their work at ICML, a leading international conference on machine learning, on July 15 in Vancouver. A preprint of the paper is available on arxiv.org, with the code and data released under an open-source license.