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Fuzzy boundaries and the extension of object-words*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Bob Carabine
Bob Carabine*
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
*
c/o Educational Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
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Abstract

An extensive fuzzy boundary was identified within the adult extension of two exemplary object-words, ‘dog’ and ‘ball’. The fuzzy boundaries were incorporated into the standard of adult extension against which the preschool child's use of ‘dog’ and ‘ball’ was compared, and the investigation provided a framework in which children's responses to fuzzy boundary referents could be accommodated. Responses to fuzzy boundary referents were considered as having precedents within adult extension and the data revealed the provision of precedents for a significant number of the young child's applications and non-applications of the words. The investigation concluded that, through adherence to an oversimplified concept of adult extension, previous research has underestimated the degree of correspondence that exists between child and adult extension.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 1991 , pp. 355 - 372
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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Footnotes

*

This paper is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of York. The research was supported by the Science and Engineering Research Council of Great Britain. I am grateful to Maureen Cox for her advice and comments.

References

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