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More about the same: children's understanding of post-articles*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Annette Karmiloff-Smith
Affiliation:
University of Geneva

Abstract

An experiment on children between 2; 0 and 7; 0 showed that they initially interpret the same X to mean ‘same kind’ in contexts where it actually means ‘same one’. This led to a critical evaluation of Piaget's implicit contention that young children are using determiners anaphorically. Stress is placed on the linguistic rather than conceptual component of children's behaviour in experiments involving questions of the type: Is it the same X? It is argued that language is not only the tool of intelligence for representing ongoing cognitive development, but that it is also a problem area for children within its own right. It is suggested that the importance of young children's processing procedures on the linguistic environment has hitherto been underestimated in Piaget's interactive epistemology.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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