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Verb acquisition and generalization strategies of preschool children
Title
Verb acquisition and generalization strategies of preschool children.
Creator
Pruzansky, Rita, Earles, Julie, Kersten, Alan
Date Issued
2012-04-06
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3350924
Subject Headings
Child development, Cognitive grammar, Language acquisition --Age factors, Language arts (Early childhood), Psycholinguistics, Children --Language
Format
Document (PDF)
Verb acquisition and generalization strategies of preschool children
Title
Verb acquisition and generalization strategies of preschool children.
Creator
Pruzansky, Rita, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description
This experiment tested 3 to 5-year-old children's (n=18) abilities to learn a novel verb in the context of one or two novel objects. We showed the children claymation videos of novel creatures performing two novel actions. They were then tested on whether they could correctly identify the action that a creature was performing in the form of a 'yes' or 'no' response. Children in the blocked condition, who learned the verbs in the context of one creature, responded correctly more often (p=.01)...
Show moreThis experiment tested 3 to 5-year-old children's (n=18) abilities to learn a novel verb in the context of one or two novel objects. We showed the children claymation videos of novel creatures performing two novel actions. They were then tested on whether they could correctly identify the action that a creature was performing in the form of a 'yes' or 'no' response. Children in the blocked condition, who learned the verbs in the context of one creature, responded correctly more often (p=.01) than children in the grouped condition, who learned the verbs in the context of two creatures. Results were similar when tested again one week later. These findings suggest that when teaching young children verbs, it may be more effective to first teach in the context of one object so that the children have a more confident understanding of the verb meaning.
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Date Issued
2012
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359311, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT3359311
Subject Headings
Language acquisition, Age factors, Child development, Language awareness in children, Psycholinguistics, Language arts (Early childhood), Cognitive grammar
Format
Document (PDF)
Complexity and Blocked Trial Presentation in a Novel Verb Generalization Task
Title
Complexity and Blocked Trial Presentation in a Novel Verb Generalization Task.
Creator
Pruzansky, Rita, Kersten, Alan, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description
The current study examined the role of complexity and initial variability of exemplars during learning in verb generalization. Children and adults learned two novel verbs in the context of two novel creatures across two sessions. After a second training session, participants completed a generalization task during which they were required to identify the verbs when presented with seven novel creatures of varying levels of complexity. Performance was compared across age group and condition....
Show moreThe current study examined the role of complexity and initial variability of exemplars during learning in verb generalization. Children and adults learned two novel verbs in the context of two novel creatures across two sessions. After a second training session, participants completed a generalization task during which they were required to identify the verbs when presented with seven novel creatures of varying levels of complexity. Performance was compared across age group and condition. Participants who initially learned the verbs in the context of a single, simple exemplar demonstrated a higher proportion of correct responses than participants who initially learned the verbs with both a simple & complex exemplar. These results provide evidence that fewer exemplars during initial training of novel verbs may increase learning in young children, as well as some evidence that complex exemplars may increase the difficulty of learning and generalizing verbs.
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Date Issued
2016
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004622
Subject Headings
Psycholinguistics., Language acquisition., Cognitive grammar.
Format
Document (PDF)