Generic language and speaker confidence guide preschoolers’ inferences about novel animate kinds.

Stock, Hayli R.; Graham, Susan A.; Chambers, Craig G.

doi:10.1037/a0015359

Cited by 22 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Despite the range of potentially kind‐referring NPs, previous studies have focused mainly on children’s comprehension of bare plural generics (e.g., Chambers, Graham, & Turner, 2008; Gelman & Bloom, 2007; Gelman & Raman, 2003; Gelman, Star, & Flukes, 2002; Hollander, Gelman, & Star, 2002; Stock, Graham, & Chambers, 2009). As a consequence, much less is known about children’s ability to interpret other NPs as generic.…”

Section: How Do Children Identify Generic Sentences?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Preschoolers’ Use of Morphosyntactic Cues to Identify Generic Sentences: Indefinite Singular Noun Phrases, Tense, and Aspect

2011

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Generic sentences (e.g., "Birds lay eggs") convey generalizations about entire categories and may thus be an important source of knowledge for children. However, these sentences cannot be identified by a simple rule, requiring instead the integration of multiple cues. The present studies focused on 3- to 5-year-olds' (N = 91) use of morphosyntactic cues--in particular, on whether children can (a) interpret indefinite singular noun phrases (e.g., "a strawberry") as generic and (b) use a verb's tense and aspect (e.g., "A bat sleeps/slept/is sleeping upside down") to determine whether its subject noun phrase is generic. Children demonstrated sensitivity to both cues. Thus, solving the in-principle problem of identifying generics may not be beyond the reach of young children's comprehension skills.

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Section: How Do Children Identify Generic Sentences?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Preschoolers’ Use of Morphosyntactic Cues to Identify Generic Sentences: Indefinite Singular Noun Phrases, Tense, and Aspect

2011

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“…Most studies of children's inductive inferences have asked children to make inferences using familiar properties (e.g. Gelman & Markman, 1986, 1987Inagaki & Hatano, 1996;Springer, 1992;Stock, Graham, & Chambers, 2009;Taylor et al, 2009). For instance, Gelman and Markman taught children a property such as 'eats grass'.…”

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Developmental changes in children's inductive inferences for biological concepts: implications for the development of essentialist beliefs

Farrar

Boyer-Pennington²

2010

Infant and Child Development

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We examined developmental changes in children's inductive inferences about biological concepts as a function of knowledge of properties and concepts. Specifically, 4-to 5-year-olds and 9-to 10-year-olds were taught either familiar or unfamiliar internal, external, or functional properties about known and unknown target animals. Children were asked to infer whether each of four probes, varying in categorical and perceptual similarity to the target, also shared that property. Overall, children made more inferences for known concepts and familiar properties. Older children were more likely to use categorical than perceptual information when making inferences about internal and functional properties of known concepts; however, younger children, in general, made no distinction for property type, and they weighted categorical and perceptual information similarly. Both age groups utilized appearance when making inferences about external properties. Results are discussed in terms of developmental changes in children's appreciation of essentialism.

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“…Indeed, a growing body of evidence indicates that preschool-aged children make use of generic language to learn about the properties of unfamiliar kinds (e.g., Chambers, Graham, & Turner, 2008; Gelman & Bloom, 2007; Gelman, Ware, & Kleinberg, 2010; Hollander, Gelman, & Raman, 2009; Stock, Graham, & Chambers, 2009). For example, Chambers et al (2008) demonstrated that 4-year-olds used the generic/nongeneric distinction in statements about novel objects (e.g., Pagons are friendly vs.…”

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Generics license 30-month-olds’ inferences about the atypical properties of novel kinds.

Graham¹,

Gelman²,

Clarke³

2016

Developmental Psychology

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We examined whether the distinction between generic and nongeneric language provides toddlers with a rapid and efficient means to learn about kinds. In Experiment 1, we examined 30-month-olds’ willingness to extend atypical properties to members of an unfamiliar category when the properties were introduced in one of three ways: a) using a generic noun phrase (“Blicks drink ketchup”); b) using a nongeneric noun phrase (“These blicks drink ketchup”); and c) using an attentional phrase (“Look at this”). Hearing a generic noun phrase boosted toddlers’ extension of properties to both the model exemplars and to novel members of the same category, relative to when a property had been introduced with a nongeneric noun phrase or an attentional phrase. In Experiment 2, properties were introduced with a generic noun phrase and toddlers extended novel properties to members of the same-category, but not to an out-of-category object. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that generics highlight the stability of a feature and foster generalization of the property to novel within-category exemplars.

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Generic language and speaker confidence guide preschoolers’ inferences about novel animate kinds.

Cited by 22 publications

References 21 publications

Preschoolers’ Use of Morphosyntactic Cues to Identify Generic Sentences: Indefinite Singular Noun Phrases, Tense, and Aspect

Preschoolers’ Use of Morphosyntactic Cues to Identify Generic Sentences: Indefinite Singular Noun Phrases, Tense, and Aspect

Developmental changes in children's inductive inferences for biological concepts: implications for the development of essentialist beliefs

Generics license 30-month-olds’ inferences about the atypical properties of novel kinds.

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