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Do Young Children Consider Similarities or Differences When Responding to Referential Questions?
Waters, Gill M. Dunning, P.L. Kapsokavadi, M.M. Morris, S.L. Pepper, L.B.
Waters, Gill M.
Dunning, P.L.
Kapsokavadi, M.M.
Morris, S.L.
Pepper, L.B.
Publication Date
2021-12-18
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(c) 2021 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2021-11-12
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Abstract
Young children often struggle with referential communications because they fail to
compare all valid referents. In two studies, we investigated this comparison process. In
Study 1, 4- to 7-year-olds (N=114) were asked to categorize pairs of objects according
to their similarities or differences, and then identified a unique quality of one of the
objects by responding to a referential question. Children found it easier to judge the
differences between objects than similarities. Correct judgments of differences
predicted accurate identifications. In Study 2, 4- to 5-year-olds (N=36) again
categorized according to similarities or differences, but this time were asked for verbal
explanations of their decisions. Recognition of differences was easier than recognition
of similarities. Explanations of errors were either: a) ambiguous; b) color error: c)
thematic (creative imaginative explanations). Children offered thematic explanations
when they failed to recognize similarities between objects, but not for errors of
difference.
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Published version
Citation
Waters GM, Dunning PL, Kapsokavadi MM et al (2021) Do Young Children Consider Similarities or Differences When Responding to Referential Questions? International Journal of Early Childhood.
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Article