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Developmental changes in the representation of word meaning: Cross‐cultural findings
Author(s) -
Jeyifous Sheila Walker
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-835x.1992.tb00578.x
Subject(s) - sociocultural evolution , psychology , meaning (existential) , representation (politics) , conceptual change , word (group theory) , linguistics , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , sociology , anthropology , pedagogy , philosophy , politics , political science , law , psychotherapist
This study examined semantic and conceptual development among three socio‐economic groups in western Nigeria: rural, urban and ilite. The sociocultural and material conditions typifying each group were hypothesized to be associated with different patterns of conceptual change. All three groups demonstrated a developmental shift in the representation of word meaning, from representations based more on characteristic features, to those based more on defining features. However, the patterns of development differed across groups. The rural group had the most marked shift and the urban group the least. The differences in developmental patterns were interpreted as reflecting specific aspects of each group's sociocultural milieu.