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Preschoolers Modulate Contrastive Inferences during Online Language Comprehension

Authors :
Ju, Narae
Williams, Natalie
Sedivy, Julie
Chambers, Craig G.
Graham, Susan A.
Source :
Child Development. Sep-Oct 2023 94(5):1319-1329.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

This study examined 4- and 5-year-olds' incremental interpretation of size adjectives, focusing on whether contrastive inferences are modulated by speaker behavior. Children (N = 120, 59 females, mostly White, tested between July, 2018 and August, 2019) encountered either a conventional or unconventional speaker who labeled objects in a correspondingly typical or atypical way. Critical utterances contained size adjectives (e.g., "Look at the big duck"). With conventional speakers, gaze measures indicated that children rapidly used the adjective to differentiate members of a contrasting pair, indicating that even 4-year-olds derive contrastive inferences. With unconventional speakers, contrastive inferences were delayed in processing. The findings demonstrate that preschoolers adjust their use of pragmatic cues when presented with evidence disconfirming their default assumptions about a speaker.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0009-3920 and 1467-8624
Volume :
94
Issue :
5
Database :
ERIC
Journal :
Child Development
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
EJ1393919
Document Type :
Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13925