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The comprehension of semantic relations by two-year-olds: an exploratory study*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Roberta Corrigan  and
Cyndie Odya-Weis
Roberta Corrigan
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Cyndie Odya-Weis
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
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Abstract

A token-placement technique was used to investigate the influence of actor and patient animacy in determining which sentences 48 2-year-olds viewed as prototypical. After training on one of three sentence types that varied in the animacy/inanimacy of actors and patients, all children were tested for generalization on pictures with different animacy/inanimacy patterns. While most children placed actor tokens on generalization sentences correctly, regardless of animacy, half responded randomly in patient token placement. Type of training only affected children who, overall, were random responders. The results suggest that the actor category is usually acquired first for prototypical sentences with animate actors and inanimate patients.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , February 1985 , pp. 47 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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