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How should we question young children's understanding of aspectuality?
Author(s) -
Waters Gillian M.,
Beck Sarah R.
Publication year - 2012
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.2011.02044.x
Subject(s) - psychology , object (grammar) , identity (music) , dimension (graph theory) , perception , sight , test (biology) , developmental psychology , modality (human–computer interaction) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , linguistics , artificial intelligence , aesthetics , paleontology , philosophy , physics , mathematics , computer science , pure mathematics , biology , astronomy , neuroscience
In two experiments, we investigated whether 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children's ability to demonstrate their understanding of aspectuality was influenced by how the test question was phrased. In Experiment 1, 60 children chose whether to look or feel to gain information about a hidden object (identifiable by sight or touch). Test questions referred either to the perceptual aspect of the hidden object (e.g., whether it was red or blue), the modality dimension (e.g., what colour it was), or the object's identity (e.g., which one it was). Children who heard the identity question performed worse than those who heard the aspect or dimension question. Further investigation in Experiment 2 ( N = 23) established that children's difficulty with the identity question was not due to a problem recalling the objects. We discuss how the results of these methodological investigations impact on researchers’ assessment of the development of aspectuality understanding.