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Beyond the single sign: the significance of sign order in a matrix‐based approach to teaching productive sign combinations
Author(s) -
Light Paul,
Watson Julia,
Remington Bob
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
mental handicap research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 0952-9608
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3148.1990.tb00034.x
Subject(s) - sign (mathematics) , meaning (existential) , matrix (chemical analysis) , class (philosophy) , sign language , object (grammar) , order (exchange) , sign system , diagonal , mathematics , natural (archaeology) , mathematics education , psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , linguistics , communication , geometry , philosophy , mathematical analysis , materials science , finance , economics , composite material , psychotherapist , archaeology , history
The authors report two experimental studies which looked at the effects of a matrix training procedure designed to teach children with mental handicaps to use two‐sign combinations. Matrix training involves teaching a specific subset of sign combinations which correspond to the overlapping diagonal cells in a matrix of possible sign combinations. Each study used a matrix of object and location combinations. In the first study, two children were successfully taught to make correct two‐sign combinations, following the teacher's placement of an object in a location. The skill was acquired as a generalised response class, but neither child fully acquired the ability to use sign order to convey meaning. The second experiment showed that only two of four children, who used signs in combination in the natural environment, were sensitive to the linguistic information carried by sign order. An attempt was made to teach the meaning of sign order to the children who were not sensitive to it. A matrix of sign combinations was used, in which the signs functioning as objects could be transposed with those which functioned as locations. These procedures were not successful. The results are discussed with respect to the complex relationships between sign learning and natural language.