| Generic Language in Parent-Child Conversations. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21765807 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Generic knowledge concerns kinds of things (e.g., birds fly; a chair is for sitting; gold is a metal). Past research demonstrated that children spontaneously develop generic knowledge by preschool age. The present study examines when and how children learn to use the multiple devices provided by their language to express generic knowledge. We hypothesize that children assume, in the absence of specifying information or context, that nouns refer to generic kinds, as a default. Thus, we predict that (a) Children should talk about kinds from an early age. (b) Children should learn generic forms with only minimal parental scaffolding. (c) Children should recognize a variety of different linguistic forms as generic. Results from longitudinal samples of adult-child conversations support all three hypotheses. We also report individual differences in the use of generics, suggesting that children differ in their tendency to form the abstract generalizations so expressed. |
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Authors:
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Susan A Gelman; Peggy J Goetz; Barbara W Sarnecka; Jonathan Flukes |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Language learning and development : the official journal of the Society for Language Development Volume: 4 ISSN: 1547-3341 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2008 |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-7-18 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101236106 Medline TA: Lang Learn Dev Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: 1-31 Citation Subset: - |
Affiliation:
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Department of Psychology, University of Michigan. |
Export Citation:
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Descriptor/Qualifier:
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| Grant Support | |
ID/Acronym/Agency:
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R01 HD036043-10//NICHD NIH HHS |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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