app03 Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:40:22 +0000 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) The It's Innate! Podcast - Episodes Tagged with “Language Development” https://itsinnate.fireside.fm/tags/language%20development Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:00:00 -0400 Two opinionated developmental cognitive scientists wax theoretical about how infants and children acquire knowledge! en-us episodic A podcast by two developmental cognitive scientists Deon Benton & Jenny Wang Two opinionated developmental cognitive scientists wax theoretical about how infants and children acquire knowledge! no cognitive development, developmental psychology, cognitive science, nature vs. nurture, psychology, social science, science Deon Benton & Jenny Wang theitsinnatepodcast@gmail.com Episode 36: The goldilocks of predicability (with Viridiana Benitez) https://itsinnate.fireside.fm/36 3d678e91-6c20-4fd5-92be-bba28ee71464 Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:00:00 -0400 Deon Benton & Jenny Wang full Deon Benton & Jenny Wang 1:39:44 no <p>This week we had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Viridiana Benitez, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University. In the first part of the episode we talked with Dr. Benitez about her academic journey along with how she approaches mentorship. In part two, we turned to her recent paper in Current Biology entitled "Predictable Events Enhance Word Learning in Toddlers." This paper explores how environmental predictability can scaffold novel word learning in toddlers. Towards the end, we discuss the relationship between Dr. Benitez's work in predictability and her work in bilingualism. </p> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <p>Benitez, V. L., &amp; Saffran, J. R. (2018). Predictable events enhance word learning in toddlers. Current Biology, 28(17), 2787-2793. <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30779-6" rel="nofollow noopener">Link</a> Special Guest: Viridiana Benitez.</p> statistical learning, mechanism, language development This week we had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Viridiana Benitez, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University. In the first part of the episode we talked with Dr. Benitez about her academic journey along with how she approaches mentorship. In part two, we turned to her recent paper in Current Biology entitled "Predictable Events Enhance Word Learning in Toddlers." This paper explores how environmental predictability can scaffold novel word learning in toddlers. Towards the end, we discuss the relationship between Dr. Benitez's work in predictability and her work in bilingualism.

Links

Benitez, V. L., & Saffran, J. R. (2018). Predictable events enhance word learning in toddlers. Current Biology, 28(17), 2787-2793. Link

Special Guest: Viridiana Benitez.

]]> This week we had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Viridiana Benitez, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University. In the first part of the episode we talked with Dr. Benitez about her academic journey along with how she approaches mentorship. In part two, we turned to her recent paper in Current Biology entitled "Predictable Events Enhance Word Learning in Toddlers." This paper explores how environmental predictability can scaffold novel word learning in toddlers. Towards the end, we discuss the relationship between Dr. Benitez's work in predictability and her work in bilingualism.

Links

Benitez, V. L., & Saffran, J. R. (2018). Predictable events enhance word learning in toddlers. Current Biology, 28(17), 2787-2793. Link

Special Guest: Viridiana Benitez.

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