Nouns Mark Category Relations: Toddlers'' and Preschoolers'' Word-Learning Biases

Recent research suggests that preschool children approach the task of word learning equipped with implicit biases that lead them to prefer some possible meanings over others. The noun-category bias proposes that children favor category relations when interpreting the meaning of novel nouns. In the series of experiments reported here, we develop a stringent test of the noun-category bias and reveal that it is present in children as young as 2 years of age. In each experiment, children participated in a 5-item match-to-sample task. Children were presented with a target item (e.g., a cow) and 4 choices, 2 of which belonged to the same superordinate category as the target (e.g., a fox and a zebra) and 2 of which were thematically related to the target (e.g., milk and a barn). In Experiment 1 we demonstrate that novel nouns prompt preschool children to attend to superordinate-level category relations, even in the presence of multiple thematic alternatives. In Experiment 2, we ascertain that the bias is specific to nouns; novel adjectives do not highlight superordinate category relations. In Experiment 3, we demonstrate the noun-category bias in 2-year-olds. The nature and utility of the noun-category bias are discussed.     

Taxonomic Knowledge: What Kind and When?

Taxonomic knowledge may be distinguished into several forms: horizontal , representing links between items at the same level of a taxonomic hierarchy (e.g., dog-cow), and vertical , representing links between items at different hierarchical levels (e.g., dog-animal). Horizontal relations include 3 category types: slot-filler (based on constrained function, i.e., shared function within an event), conventional subcategory (based on constrained, but not event-based, function and/or on arbitrary cultural groupings), and conventional superordinate (based on unconstrained function). 3 experiments–category production, word association, and forced-picture-choice–explored taxonomic and thematic/ schematic knowledge in 4- and 7-year-old children and adults. Results showed preschooler taxonomic knowledge to be restricted to slot-filler categories. Conventional horizontal relations and vertical taxonomic knowledge emerged with age. Slot-fillers played a role in these developments of taxonomic knowledge. Also developing was' task/context sensitive responding, with 7-, but not 4-year-olds, relying on distinct forms of knowledge across tasks.     

Deaf college students' comprehension of relational language in arithmetic compare problems

In this study of deaf college students' performance solving compare word problems, relational statements were either consistent or inconsistent with the arithmetic operation required for the solutions. The results support the consistency hypothesis Lewis and Mayer (1987) proposed based on research with hearing students. That is, deaf students were more likely to miscomprehend a relational statement and commit a reversal error when the required arithmetic operation was inconsistent with the statement's relational term (e.g., having to add when the relational term was less than). Also, the reversal error effect with inconsistent word problems was magnified when the relational statement was a marked term (e.g., a negative adjective such as less than) rather than an unmarked term (e.g., a positive adjective such as more than). Reading ability levels of deaf students influenced their performance in a number of ways. As predicted, there was a decrease in goal-monitoring errors, multiple errors, and the number of problems left blank as the reading levels of students increased. Contrary to expectations, higher reading skills did not affect the frequency of reversal errors.     

Do home numeracy and literacy practices of Greek and Canadian parents predict the numeracy skills of kindergarten children?

Children’s experiences with early numeracy and literacy activities are a likely source of individual differences in their preparation for academic learning in school. What factors predict differences in children’s experiences? We hypothesised that relations between parents’ practices and children’s numeracy skills would mediate the relations between numeracy skills and parents’ education, attitudes and expectations. Parents of Greek (N = 100) and Canadian (N = 104) five‐year‐old children completed a survey about parents’ home practices, academic expectations and attitudes; their children were tested on two numeracy measures (i.e., KeyMath‐Revised Numeration and next number generation). Greek parents reported numeracy and literacy activities less frequently than Canadian parents; however, the frequency of home numeracy activities that involved direct experiences with numbers or mathematical content (e.g., learning simple sums, mental math) was related to children’s numeracy skills in both countries. For Greek children, home literacy experiences (i.e., storybook exposure) also predicted numeracy outcomes. The mediation model was supported for Greek children, but for Canadian children, the parent factors had both direct and mediated relations with home practices.     

The Role of Overt Aggression, Relational Aggression, and Prosocial Behavior in the Prediction of Children's Future Social Adjustment

2 limitations of past research on social adjustment were addressed: (1) the tendency to focus on forms of aggression that are typical of boys (e.g., overt aggression) and to neglect forms that are more typical of girls (e.g., relational aggression) and (2) the tendency to study negative behaviors (e.g., aggression), to the exclusion of positive behaviors (e.g., prosocial acts). Using a longitudinal design ( n = 245; third- through sixth-grade children, 9–12 years old), assessments of children's relational aggression, overt aggression, prosocial behavior, and social adjustment were obtained at 3 points during the academic year. Findings showed that, as has been demonstrated in past research for overt aggression, individual differences in relational aggression were relatively stable over time. Additionally, relational aggression contributed uniquely to the prediction of future social maladjustment, beyond that predicted by overt aggression. Finally, prosocial behavior contributed unique information (beyond that provided by overt and relational aggression) to the prediction of future social adjustment.     

Infant Categorization of Path Relations During Dynamic Events

Fundamental to amassing a lexicon of relational terms (i.e., verbs, prepositions) is the ability to abstract and categorize spatial relations such as a figure (e.g., boy) moving along a path (e.g., around the barn). Three studies examine how infants learn to categorize path over changes in manner, or how an action is performed (e.g., running vs. crawling). Experiment 1 (n = 60) finds that 10‐ to 12‐month‐old English‐learning infants categorize a figure’s path. In Experiment 2 (n = 27) categorization is disrupted when the ground object is removed, suggesting the relation between figure and ground defines the path. Experiment 3 (n = 24) shows that language may be a mechanism guiding category formation. These studies suggest that English‐learning infants can categorize path, a component lexicalized in the world’s languages.     

Mother-child conversations about pictures and objects: referring to categories and individuals

The distinction between individuals (e.g., Rin-Tin-Tin) and categories (e.g., dogs) is fundamental in human thought. Two studies examined factors that influence when 2- to 3-year-old children and adults focus on individuals versus categories. Mother-child dyads were presented with pictures and toys (e.g., a picture of a boat or a toy boat). Conversations were coded for references to generic categories ("Dogs are furry"), ostensive labels ("This is a dog"), or specific individuals ("Lassie"). Overall, pictures generated more talk about categories; objects generated more talk about individuals. However, when objects could not be manipulated, speakers expressed relatively more category references. These results suggest that representations (in the form of pictures or objects-on-display) encourage young children and parents alike to think about categories.     

Face processing in infancy: developmental changes in the use of different kinds of relational information

Adults use both first-order, or categorical, relations among features (e.g., the nose is above the mouth), and second-order, or fine spatial relations (e.g., the space between eyes), to process faces. Adults' expertise in face processing is thought to be based on the use of second-order relations. In the current study, 5-month-olds detected second-order changes, but 3-month-olds failed to detect second-order changes induced by 2 different manipulations. Three-month-olds did detect first-order changes, however. Also, inversion affected 5-month-olds' processing of second-order but not first-order information. These results suggest that, although sensitivity to first-order relations is available by 3 months or earlier, sensitivity to second-order information may not develop until sometime between 3 and 5 months of age.     

Categories influence predictions about individual consistency

Predicting how people will behave in the future is a critical social-cognitive task. In four studies (N = 150, ages preschool to adult), young children (ages 4-5) used category information to guide their expectations about individual consistency. They predicted that psychological properties (preferences and fears) would remain consistent over time after hearing one example in which properties followed a category-linked distribution (e.g., children of different genders had different properties) but not when properties varied within a category (e.g., children of the same gender had different properties). The developmental course of these findings is examined. Results suggest the importance of considering how children's emerging theories of behavior and of social groups operate together to inform their expectations about the social world.     

Do Relational Risks and Protective Factors Moderate the Linkages between Childhood Aggression and Early Psychological and School Adjustment?

This investigation addressed the question of how relational stressors and supports interface with a known behavioral risk (aggression) to influence early emerging adjustment trajectories. Children's risk for aggression, as well as multiple relational risk and protective factors (i.e., stressful and supportive features of peer and teacher relationships), were assessed in a sample of 396 children and used to predict changes in psychological functioning and school adjustment from the fall of their kindergarten year to the spring of their first-grade year. Results were largely consistent with additive risk-maladjustment models; with few exceptions, relational experiences predicted adjustment beyond children's aggressive risk status. For some adjustment criteria, however, there was evidence to suggest that relational stressors or supports exacerbated or compensated for dysfunctions that were linked with aggressive behavior. Moreover, compared with early onset, the chronicity of children's aggressive risk status and relational stressors and supports bore a stronger association with changes in maladjustment. Analyses conducted by ethnic groups suggested that African American children, who were typically a minority among their European American classmates, were more likely to experience particular stressors (e.g., chronic peer rejection), and were less likely to be afforded some form of support (e.g., stable teacher-child closeness). However, the nature of the predictive linkages found between the relational risk and protective factors and later maladjustment did not differ substantially by SES or ethnicity. The importance of investigating behavioral risks in conjunction with the relational features of children's interpersonal environments is discussed.     

On Wooden Pillows: Multiple Classification and Children''s Category-based Inductions

Previous research has indicated that preschoolers do not distinguish between properties that are generalizable within a given category and those that are not. 2 possible general constraints on children's cognition are proposed to account for these findings. 3 studies are reported that argue against the presence of such general constraints. We examine preschoolers' understanding of the properties associated with material (e.g., wood, cotton) and object (e.g., chair, pillow) categories. In Study 1, subjects consistently made inductions based on the material compositions of items when asked to predict texture and fragility. In Study 2, the same subjects judged that items that shared material would share an unfamiliar dispositional property (e.g., gets sodden in water), but items that shared object kind would share a novel functional property (e.g., used for accelerating). Study 3 tested a younger sample of 3-year-olds and found the same sensitivity to category type, albeit with larger individual differences. By age 3, children use different modes of categorization to generalize different kinds of phenomena. These results argue against general limitations on children's abilities to use categories to make inductions. Even when children lack specific theoretical knowledge, the ability to organize phenomena into domains allows children to recognize which categories are relevant in different situations. This understanding can provide a basis for the development of more specific theories.     

Establishing New Subcategories: The Role of Category Labels and Existing Knowledge

Previous research has revealed that novel nouns highlight category relations at superordinate and basic levels but, paradoxically, make subordinate classification more difficult for preschool children. In Experiment 1, we provide additional evidence that novel nouns put 3-year-old children at a disadvantage in subordinate classification. We suggest that this reflects young children's inclination to label and classify objects at the basic level. In Experiments 2 and 3, we identify 2 circumstances under which 3-year-old children alter their basic level expectation. In Experiment 2, we provide children with specific information to distinguish the relevant subclasses. In Experiment 3, we introduce the novel nouns in conjunction with the familiar basic level labels. Under each of these circumstances, novel nouns do not present an obstacle to subordinate classification. Children's linguistic biases (e.g., the noun-category bias) and their existing knowledge and vocabularies jointly influence early conceptual development.     

Nameability supports rule-based category learning in children and adults

The present study tested the hypothesis that verbal labels support category induction by providing compact hypotheses. Ninety-seven 4- to 6-year-old children (M = 63.2 months; 46 female, 51 male; 77% White, 8% more than one race, 4% Asian, and 3% Black; tested 2018) and 90 adults (M = 20.1 years; 70 female, 20 male) in the Midwestern United States learned novel categories with features that were easy (e.g., “red”) or difficult (e.g., “mauve”) to name. Adults (d = 1.06) and—to a lesser extent—children (d = 0.57; final training block) learned categories composed of more nameable features better. Children's knowledge of difficult-to-name color words predicted their learning for categories with difficult-to-name features. Rule-based category learning may be supported by the emerging ability to form verbal hypotheses.     

Incorporating new words into the lexicon: preliminary evidence for language hierarchies in two-year-old children

In 4 experiments, we examined how young children incorporate new word meanings into their lexicons. 2-year-olds were each taught a new noun for an object that already had a known label (e.g., a "fep" for a dog). Children's interpretations of the new nouns were assessed by asking subjects to select the named toy from an array of 4 toys (e.g., "Point to a fep"). The experiments were designed to determine which of several possible semantic relations between novel and familiar words was most consistent with children's performance. It was found that children often seemed to interpret the new word as referring to a subordinate of the known category. This tendency was reduced when the named object could sensibly receive a proper name (e.g., when the named object was a stuffed animal), particularly when children had to consider both the familiar and the novel label for the object in the same session. Although not all alternative explanations have been ruled out, these results suggest that, from a very young age, children may spontaneously form language hierarchies when they hear a novel work for an object that already has a familiar name.     

“Acquired” Equals Addition? Associating Verbs with Arithmetic Operations Impacts Word Problem Performance

Successful word problem performance often requires understanding the linguistic relations between characters and objects. However, the keyword method promotes associating specific words with mathematical operations while neglecting the situational context. Research has thoroughly investigated the detrimental effects of individuals associating relational terminology (e.g., “more”) with mathematical operations (e.g., “addition”). The current study expands upon this line of research by examining whether undergraduate students associate verbs with mathematical operations and if verbal associations affect word problem performance. Similar to relational terminology, the participants associated verbs with operations, which significantly impacted performance. The educational implications are discussed.     

Children''s Expectations of the Outcomes of Social Strategies: Relations with Sociometric Status and Maternal Disciplinary Styles

To explore relations between maternal disciplinary styles, children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies, and children's peer status, 144 mothers and their first- (N = 59) and fourth- (N = 85) grade children (ages = 70-86 months and 116-129 months, respectively) participated in home interviews prior to the beginning of the school year. Measures of children's sociometric status were obtained in classrooms after the school year began. Results indicated that children of mothers who were more power assertive in their disciplinary styles tended to be less accepted by peers and tended to expect successful outcomes for unfriendly-assertive methods for resolving peer conflict (e.g., threatening to hit another child). In addition, children who expected unfriendly-assertive strategies to lead to self-oriented gains were less accepted by peers. Moreover, maternal disciplinary styles and outcome expectations for unfriendly-assertive strategies were found to make separate and independent contribution to peer status.     

Mothers' Responsive Parenting Practices and Psychological Experience of Parenting as Mediators of the Relation Between Marital Conflict and Mother - Preadolescent Relational Negativity

Objective. This study assessed direct and indirect relations between marital conflict and mother - preadolescent relational negativity. Design. Self-report questionnaire data were gathered from 156 married mothers and their firstborn 5th graders who were between the ages of 10 and 12 years. Participants completed measures of marital conflict, responsive parenting practices, the psychological experience of parenting (e.g., parenting stress), and mother - preadolescent relational negativity (e.g., conflict). Results. Structural equation modeling indicated that marital conflict was positively associated with maternal reports of negativity in the mother - preadolescent relationship. In contrast, marital conflict was not associated with preadolescent reports of negativity in the mother - preadolescent relationship. Subsequent analyses revealed that the relation between marital conflict and maternal report of mother - preadolescent relational negativity was indirect and mediated by responsive parenting practices and mothers' psychological experience of parenting. Conclusions. This study integrated essential components from the marital conflict, stress and coping, and parenting literatures. Understanding the roles of different aspects of parenting in the relation between marital conflict and the mother - child relationship suggests new directions for research.     

Learning through work: Exploring instances of relational interdependencies

This paper provides an account of the inter-psychological processes that constitute learning through work. It does this by drawing on deliberations about the relative contributions of the immediate social world (i.e., workplace setting) that individuals encounter and the personal premises for individuals’ learning. This account is realised through analyses of workers’ experiences of working and learning in both large and small enterprises. Together, these premises and their contributions are used to elaborate how learning through work proceeds as a process of relational interdependence between the affordance of the workplace and the engagement of workers. This relational process is evident in work of different kinds, from the labours of coalminers through to the entrepreneurial activities of small business operators. Instances of learning through work are elaborated through studies that identify how workplaces’ affordances—those that invite workers in particular ways to participate, access support and reward—are generated and projected. These contributions to engaging in and learning through work can be conceptualised as the immediate social contribution or experience that is shaped by cultural and situational factors and the social legacies that shape how individuals construe, engage in, and learn through those practices. It concludes by discussing issues related to both the inter-psychological process and outcomes (e.g., inter-subjectivity) arising from learning through work.