Finally, the study has a variety of implications for both the fields of education and early childhood development. Because Bortfeld et al. have distinguished that infants can recognize familiar words and words that precede or follow them at a very early age, educators in grades as low as pre-school can use this information to design a curriculum for maximum learning. Thus, the implications of Bortfeld et al.'s study have depth and are widespread across disciplines. The fact that this study is saturated with implications for a variety of fields suggests that it not only provides a wealth of new information to add to the conversation regarding infant word recognition, but also that the study was conducted well with a variety of strengths, though some weaknesses can also be identified. In regards to methodology, the three experiments were set up as to compliment each other in a logical chronological manner. Each experiment followed a similar pattern, only changing the variable information. This structure allows readers to draw conclusions not only in one experiment, but also through and within all three. Additionally, the experiments themselves exhibited a great deal of strengths. For example, the designers paired infants with similar sounding names together so as not to confuse preference for syllables or stresses as recognition. Similarly, the choice to have a female reading the phrases and words in a voice that would normally be used when addressing infants helps to reduce error in this experiment that might stem from the fact that...

By incorporating lights into the design, the experimenters insured that they had the baby's attention when he or she was being tested or going through trials. By insuring that the infant was awake and alert, in addition to removing some infants from the study because of their fussiness, the researchers continued to proof their experiment against error. Besides the obvious strengths of the methodology, however, all three experiments were the impetus for researchers to make informed conclusions. That the researchers concluded that the infants were recognizing words associated with themselves or another familiar word in the first two tests, and refraining to recognize a word in the final test is supported via the evidence.
While this design had a great deal of strengths, one weakness can also be described -- the use of the head turn recognition is prominent to this case, and yet is relatively unexplained. Although the previous studies may suggest that turning the head may indicate recognition, none of those studies are referred to except by citation. Furthermore, the researchers gave no indication as to why they accepted research that has been done indicating that a head tilt indicates recognition. Because recognition is a major part of this study, further information regarding the validity of a head-turn recognition method is needed.

Although their article can be colored with at least one weakness, Bortfeld at al. conducted a test of six-month-old infants that was both solidly designed and easy to interpret. Based simply on the numerous implications that this study has across disciplines, its importance would be evident. Viewing the experiment from both the cognitive and behaviorist theoretical standpoints, the experimenters remarked on both the infant's behavior and the potential reasoning for that behavior. For all of these reasons, this article is of significance to parents and professionals everywhere.