Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T05:07:41.047Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The development of noun definition*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Aileen Wehren ,
Richard De Lisi  and
Marjorie Arnold
Aileen Wehren
Affiliation:
Rutgers University
Richard De Lisi
Affiliation:
Rutgers University
Marjorie Arnold
Affiliation:
Rutgers University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigated the development of noun definition by grade school children and adults (N = 100). Subjects were asked to define 15 common nouns in one of two conditions: with objects present or without objects present. Definitions were classified on the basis of perceptual attributes (CONCRETE), everyday usage (FUNCTIONAL) or a combination of these (COMBINATORIAL). Results were analysed with a 5 (Grade) × 2 (Condition × 3 (Category) Analysis of Variance which indicated no effects for condition, but a Grade × Category interaction. With increasing age, there was a shift from FUNCTIONAL to COMBINATORIAL definitions; CONCRETE definitions were infrequent for all grades. In addition, age changes were found in the forms of the definitions subjects produced. In contrast to the children, adults formulated definitions in a more complex Aristotelian form. It was concluded that noun definition is a metalinguistic ability which follows a course of development similar to that for the acquisition of word meaning.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 165 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

[*]

Address for correspondence (to second or third author): Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, 10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903, U.S.A.

References

REFERENCES

Kirk, R. (1968). Experimental design: procedures for the behavioral sciences. Belmont, California: Brooks Cole.Google Scholar
Litowitz, B. (1977). Learning to make definitions. JChLang 4. 289–304.Google Scholar
Nelson, K. (1974). Concept, word, and sentence: Interrelations in acquisition and development. PsychRev 81. 267–85.Google Scholar
Nelson, K., Rescorla, L., Gruendel, J. & Benedict, H. (1978). Early lexicons: what do they mean ? ChDev 49. 960–8.Google Scholar
Smith, M. (1978). The acquisition of word meaning: an introduction. ChDev 49. 950–2.Google Scholar
Storck, P. & Looft, W. (1973). Qualitative analysis of vocabulary responses from persons aged 6–66 plus. JEdPsych 65. 192–7.Google Scholar
Swartz, K. & Hall, A. (1972). Development of relational concepts and word definition in children five through eleven. ChDev 43. 239–44.Google Scholar
Thorndike, E. & Lorge, I. (1944). The teacher's word book of 30,000 words. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University.Google Scholar
Wilson, J. (1975). Developmental and social interaction in categories of word definition. BJEdPsych 45. 268–78.Google Scholar
Wolman, R. & Barker, E. (1965). A developmental study of word definitions. JGenPsych 107. 159–66.Google ScholarPubMed