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Object Similarity Bootstraps Young Children to Action‐Based Verb Extension
Author(s) -
Haryu Etsuko,
Imai Mutsumi,
Okada Hiroyuki
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01567.x
Subject(s) - verb , similarity (geometry) , object (grammar) , psychology , action (physics) , extension (predicate logic) , linguistics , cognitive psychology , natural language processing , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics) , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , programming language
Young children often fail to generalize a novel verb based on sameness of action since they have difficulty focusing on the relational similarity across events while at the same time ignoring the objects that are involved. Study 1, with Japanese‐speaking 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds ( N = 28 in each group), found that similarity of objects involved in action events plays a scaffolding role in children’s extraction of relational similarity across events when they extend a verb. Study 2, with 4‐year‐olds ( N = 47), further showed that repeated experience of action‐based verb extension supported by object similarity leads children to be better able to extend a novel verb based on sameness of action, even without support from object similarity.