How Children Understand Sarcasm: The Role of Context and Intonation

To recognize ironic sarcasm, adults may rely on either of 2 cues: the context in which the utterance is made, or the speaker's intonation. In 2 experiments comparing third graders (8–9 years old), sixth graders (11–12 years old), and adults, we investigated the development of children's ability to use these cues. In the first, children were able to recognize sarcasm when the speakers used sarcastic intonation but failed to do so without the intonation cue, even if the context strongly indicated a nonliteral interpretation. In the second experiment, subjects delivered dialogue with intonation they deemed appropriate—and justified their choices—based on contexts that either suggested sarcasm or not. Young children again appeared largely oblivious to contextually implied sarcasm. These results suggest that children initially depend more heavily on intonation than on context in recognizing sarcasm.     

Development of the ability to distinguish communicative intention and literal message meaning

Children's ability to distinguish the literal meaning of a message and the speaker's communicative intent was investigated in 2 experiments. First- and second-grade children evaluated brief referential communication messages for ambiguity under 2 conditions. In an informed condition, the children knew which referent the speaker had intended. In an uninformed condition, they did not know the intended referent. 2 communication systems were used. In Experiment 1, the messages were written on cards and read to the child; in Experiment 2, a novel communication system was used. The developmental pattern of results was similar for both studies. The results showed that the first graders in the informed condition often claimed that an ambiguous message could not refer to a referent the speaker had not meant, whereas children in the uninformed condition were able to detect the referential ambiguity of the message. There were no condition differences for the second graders. The results suggest that young children's ability to analyze the literal meaning of a message is affected by the accessibility of the speaker's communicative intent and that children may develop a general ability to analyze representations of communicative intention.     

Taking the relational structure of fractions seriously: Relational reasoning predicts fraction knowledge in elementary school children

Understanding and using symbolic fractions in mathematics is critical for access to advanced STEM concepts. However, children and adults consistently struggle with fractions. Here, we take a novel perspective on symbolic fractions, considering them within the framework of relational structures in cognitive psychology, such as those studied in analogy research. We tested the hypothesis that relational reasoning ability is important for reasoning about fractions by examining the relation between scores on a domain-general test of relational reasoning (TORR Jr.) and a test of fraction knowledge consisting of various types of fraction problems in 194 s grade and 145 fifth grade students. We found that relational reasoning was a significant predictor of fractions knowledge, even when controlling for non-verbal IQ and fractions magnitude processing for both grades. The effects of relational reasoning also remained significant when controlling for overall mathematics knowledge and skill for second graders but was attenuated for fifth graders. These findings suggest that this important subdomain of mathematical cognition is integrally tied to relational reasoning and opens the possibility that instruction targeting relational reasoning may prove to be a viable avenue for improving children’s fractions skills.     

Using Self-Generated Drawings to Solve Arithmetic Word Problems

Abstract

In this article, two intervention studies are described that were set up to investigate whether encouraging elementary students to generate drawings of arithmetic word problems facilitates problem-solving performance. The interventions consisted of 60 to 90 min of practice and showed the usefulness of self-generated drawings for solving word problems. The subjects in the first study were first and second graders, and in the second study, fifth graders. The results indicated that the fifth graders improved problem solutions after the intervention, whereas the first and second graders did not. Unlike the first and second graders, the fifth graders generated lots of drawings of word problems. The findings suggest that the nature of the difficulties children experience when solving arithmetic word problems influences their decision to generate drawings.     

The moral choices children attribute to adults and to peers: Implications for moral acquisition

Thirty-six children (half 6–8 years old and half 10–12) in Northeast Brazil heard three hypothetical dilemmas featuring a choice between telling the truth and keeping a promise. Each dilemma was initiated by a different kind of lie: an exculpable pro-social lie (teasing), a lie in the personal domain (hiding) and a lie in the service of an anti-social act (cheating). They were asked to choose between truth and promise, and to attribute choices to adults and to peers. More younger than older children chose truth on all three dilemmas. Both regression and SSA analysis showed that “peer-judgments” predicted own judgments on all three dilemmas, but “adult-judgments” did so only on the dilemma, which featured an exculpable lie and involved no adults. The findings may be interpreted as supporting either (a) a constructivist account of development or (b) a learning account that features implicit processes.     

纪实是小说叙事的本质属性--中西小说叙事诗学论

本文认为纪实才是小说叙事的本质属性之一。文章吸取了新历史主义理论的精华,一方面解构了所谓的历史真实,传统的历史叙事都是文章所说的一切叙事皆是纪实的纪实范畴,把司马迁的史记与西方的历史都划入了纪实;一方面文章恢复了小说真实的本义,将普遍定论的小说就是虚构的伪命题,进行了重新阐释与建构,恢复了小说叙事的纪实的本质属性。换句话说,文章提出纪实是小说的本质属性的论点,就是对现代小说理论界存在的"扬虚构贬真实的隐行偏爱"之理念进行纠正。     

Talk and the Development of Social Understanding

Our theme is that parent-child talk about the mental world plays a central role in the development of children's social understanding. This view is supported by Wittgenstein's argument that public criteria are necessary for learning the meaning of mental state terms. We propose that children, mainly in talk, learn the patterns of interaction that are criterial for the use of mental state terms. Two examples of empirical research illustrate this proposal. The first, a qualitative analysis of how criteria for psychological terms are displayed in mother-child talk, revealed that criteria were variously displayed and were presented in temporal, cause and effect sequences. The second, a quantitative analysis of key elements for understanding false beliefs present in mother-child talk, compared dyads in which children Failed (N = 14) or Passed (N = 10) false belief tests. In both Fail and Pass dyads, mothers elicited the vast majority of elements but produced about the same number as children. Only Pass children produced elements without mothers eliciting them. There were no instances of child-elicited/mother-produced elements. Overall, Fail children were less competent at recognizing and commenting on important aspects of a situation of false belief. We conclude that the development of talk and social understanding are inextricably intertwined.     

Children''s and Adults'' Models for Predicting Teleological Action: The Development of a Biology-Based Model

Understanding that only living things must act to gain self-beneficial goals is important for developing a theory-like understanding of the living world. This research studied the models that preschoolers, fifth graders, and adults use to guide their predictions of self-beneficial, goal-directed (i.e., teleological) action. Four possible models have been suggested: finalist, complexity based, biology based, and animal based. In Study 1, participants (N = 104) were assigned to one of two conditions that differed in whether a beneficial or neutral object was pictured; they were asked to predict whether animals, plants, machines, and simple artifacts would modify their movement in the direction of that object. Preschoolers' predictions were consistent with an animal-based model, fifth graders' predictions were consistent with biology-based and complexity-based models, and adults' predictions were consistent with a biology-based model. Analysis of both individual response patterns and explanations supported these findings, but also showed that a significant number of preschoolers and fifth graders were finalist, and that very few individual fifth graders followed a complexity-based teleology. In Study 2, participants (N = 84) reported whether the animals, plants, machines, and simple artifacts in Study 1 had psychological capacities. All age groups attributed psychological capacities to animals at levels higher than other domains and at above-chance levels. The evidence from these two studies suggests that preschoolers, unlike fifth graders and adults, predict teleological action for plants and animals on the basis of these entities' inferred psychological capacities.     

Children's use of response confidence in the processing of instructional feedback

The main purpose of the present study was to extend a model of instructional feedback (Kulhavy & Stock, 1989) to elementary school children. Forty-five third and fifth graders (third graders, N = 21; fifth graders, N = 24) read text passages, answered questions, and either rated response confidences for each question or used an imagery strategy. Although differences were not found between treatment groups, analyses of response patterns revealed differential age effects. Response patterns for fifth graders were similar to those of college populations; however, these patterns did not emerge for third graders.     

Lying and Truthfulness: Children's Definitions, Standards, and Evaluative Reactions

Preschool ( M = 4.9 years), second- ( M = 7.8 years), and fifth- ( M = 11.0 years) grade children's definitions of, moral standards for, and internal evaluative reactions to both lies and truthful statements were investigated. The influence of 4 factors on these judgments was also examined: the falsity of the statement, the content of the statement, whether or not the statement was believed, and whether or not the statement resulted in punishment. Results revealed that while the older children identified almost all statements correctly, preschoolers correctly identified about 70% of lies and truthful statements. Lies were rated as worse than truthful statements by all age groups; however, only the second and fifth graders ascribed feelings of pride to story characters after truthfulness. Implications of these findings for children's moral development are discussed.     

Talk and the Development of Social Understanding

Our theme is that parent-child talk about the mental world plays a central role in the development of children's social understanding. This view is supported by Wittgenstein's argument that public criteria are necessary for learning the meaning of mental state terms. We propose that children, mainly in talk, learn the patterns of interaction that are criterial for the use of mental state terms. Two examples of empirical research illustrate this proposal. The first, a qualitative analysis of how criteria for psychological terms are displayed in mother-child talk, revealed that criteria were variously displayed and were presented in temporal, cause and effect sequences. The second, a quantitative analysis of key elements for understanding false beliefs present in mother-child talk, compared dyads in which children Failed (N = 14) or Passed (N = 10) false belief tests. In both Fail and Pass dyads, mothers elicited the vast majority of elements but produced about the same number as children. Only Pass children produced elements without mothers eliciting them. There were no instances of child-elicited/mother-produced elements. Overall, Fail children were less competent at recognizing and commenting on important aspects of a situation of false belief. We conclude that the development of talk and social understanding are inextricably intertwined.     

Children's Naive Theories of Intelligence Influence Their Metacognitive Judgments

Recent studies have shown that the metacognitive judgments adults infer from their experiences of encoding effort vary in accordance with their naive theories of intelligence. To determine whether this finding extends to elementary schoolchildren, a study was conducted in which 27 third graders (M_age = 8.27) and 24 fifth graders (M_age = 10.39) read texts presented in easy‐ or difficult‐to‐encode fonts. The more children in both grades viewed intelligence as fixed, the less likely they were to interpret effortful or difficult encoding as a sign of increasing mastery and the more likely they were to report lower levels of comprehension as their perceived effort increased. This suggests that children may use naive theories of intelligence to make motivationally relevant inferences earlier than previously thought.     

Why does children's generosity increase with age: susceptibility to experimenter influence or altruism?

This study evaluated whether age differences in children's generosity are due to increasing altruistic motivation or increasing susceptibility to experimenter influence strategies. 282 first, third, and fifth graders voted on how to spend a gift of money under 1 of 5 instructional sets--3 levels of experimenter influence, peer influence, or no influence, or no influence. Voting choices (in increasing order of generosity according to experimenter-defined scoring weights) were splitting up the money equally among class members, buying something for their class, buying something for their school, or giving the money to poor children. Voting choices also were scored according to empirically derived weights based on rankings provided by an independent sample of 50 first, third, and fifth graders. Both scoring systems indicated that fifth graders were more generous than younger children, but only under high levels of experimenter demand, and peer influence did not increase children's generosity. Furthermore, first graders appeared more generous when the child-derived rather than the experimenter-derived scoring system was used. Thus generalizations regarding age differences in generosity observed in laboratory experiments may require qualification, specifying the degree and type of experimenter influence involved.     

The development of cognitive maps of large- and small-scale spaces.

Kindergartners, second, and fifth graders made repeated trips through a large- or small-scale model town, and then constructed from memory the layout of buildings in either a large- or small-scale space. Accuracy of construction increased as a function of developmental level and repeated trips through the town. Children's constructions were most accurate when they were tested in the same-scale environment as that in which they developed their spatial knowledge; accuracy was impaired significantly only when children were exposed to a small space and then reconstructed in a large space. Results were interpreted in terms of a "competence-load trade-off."     

Contexts of achievement: a study of American, Chinese, and Japanese children

The major purpose of this study was to attempt to understand some of the reasons for the high academic achievement of Chinese and Japanese children compared to American children. The study was conducted with first and fifth graders attending elementary schools in the Minneapolis metropolitan area, Taipei (Taiwan), and Sendai (Japan). 1,440 children (240 first graders and 240 fifth graders in each city) were selected as target subjects in the study. The children were selected from 20 classrooms at each grade in each city and constituted a representative sample of children from these classrooms. In a follow-up study, first graders were studied again when they were in the fifth grade. The children were tested with achievement tests in reading and mathematics constructed specifically for this study, the children and their mothers were interviewed, the children's teachers filled out a questionnaire, and interviews were held with the principals of the schools attended by the children. In the follow-up study, achievement tests were administered, and the children and their mothers were interviewed. Background information about the children's everyday lives revealed much greater attention to academic activities among Chinese and Japanese than among American children. Members of the three cultures differed significantly in terms of parents' interest in their child's academic achievement, involvement of the family in the child's education, standards and expectations of parents concerning their child's academic achievement, and parents' and children's beliefs about the relative influence of effort and ability on academic achievement. Whereas children's academic achievement did not appear to be a central concern of American mothers, Chinese and Japanese mothers viewed this as their child's most important pursuit. Once the child entered elementary school, Chinese and Japanese families mobilized themselves to assist the child and to provide an environment conducive to achievement. American mothers appeared to be less interested in their child's academic achievement than in the child's general cognitive development; they attempted to provide experiences that fostered cognitive growth rather than academic excellence. Chinese and Japanese mothers held higher standards for their children's achievement than American mothers and gave more realistic evaluations of their child's academic, cognitive, and personality characteristics. American mothers overestimated their child's abilities and expressed greater satisfaction with their child's accomplishments than the Chinese and Japanese mothers. In describing bases of children's academic achievement, Chinese and Japanese mothers stressed the importance of hard work to a greater degree than American mothers, and American mothers gave greater emphasis to innate ability than did Chinese and Japanese mothers.     

Socialization of perceived academic competence among highly competent children

A sample of 81 academically competent third graders and their parents were studied (1) to determine whether the illusion of incompetence documented for fifth graders appears in younger children, (2) to examine whether parents' competence-related perceptions significantly distinguish children with varying levels of perceived academic competence, and (3) to develop a predictive model of the association between parent and child competence beliefs. More than 20% of the children--equal proportions of girls and boys--had self-perceptions that seriously underestimated their actual high abilities, and displayed a corresponding pattern of disparaging self- and other-achievement attitudes. Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their children's abilities varied significantly with the perceived competence status of the children, as did the children's perceptions of their parents' appraisals. Using path analysis, preliminary support was found for a model in which children's perceptions of competence are influenced more by their parents' appraisals than by objective evidence of their achievements. The results are discussed in the context of research on the socialization of math attitudes and new work on parental belief systems.     

Does God Make It Real? Children’s Belief in Religious Stories From the Judeo‐Christian Tradition

Four- to 6-year-old children (N = 131) heard religious or nonreligious stories and were questioned about their belief in the reality of the story characters and events. Children had low to moderate levels of belief in the characters and events. Children in the religious story condition had higher levels of belief in the reality of the characters and events than did children in the nonreligious condition; this relation strengthened with age. Children who used God as an explanation for the events showed higher levels of belief in the factuality of those events. Story familiarity and family religiosity also affected children's responses. The authors conclude that God's involvement in a story influences children's belief in the reality of the characters and events in that story.     

Reasoning about structure and function: Children's conceptions of gears

Twenty-three second graders and 20 fifth graders were interviewed about how gears move on a gearboard and work in commonplace machines. Questions focused on transmission of motion; direction, plane, and speed of turning; and mechanical advantage. Several children believed that meshed gears turn in the same direction and at the same speed. Many second graders provided very incomplete explanations of transmission of motion. Most children confused mechanical advantage with speed. Yet as the interview proceeded, several fifth graders generalized conceptions about transmission of motion into a rule about turning direction. They increasingly justified their ideas about gear speed by referring to ratio. Children's reasoning became more general, formal, and mathematical as problem complexity increased, suggesting that mathematical forms of reasoning may develop when they provide a clear advantage over simple causal generalizations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 3-25, 1998.     

Chinese and Canadian Children's Evaluations of Lying and Truth Telling: Similarities and Dfferences in the Context of pro-and Antisocial Behaviors

The present study compared Chinese and Canadian children's moral evaluations of lie and truth telling in situations involving pro- and antisocial behaviors. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-old Chinese and canadian children were presented 4 brief stories. Two stories involved a child who intentionally carried out a good deed, and the other2 stories involved a child who intentionally carried out a bad deed. When story characters were questioned by a teacher as to who had committed the deed, they either lied or told the truth. Children were asked to evaluate the story characters' deeds and their verbal statements. Overall, Chinese children rated truth telling less positively and lie telling more positively in prosocial settings than Canadian children, indicating that the emphasis on self-effacement and modesty in Chinese culture overrides Chinese children's evaluations of lying in some situations. Both Chinese and canadian children rated trugh telling positively and lie telling negatively in antisocial situations, reflecting the emphasis in both cultures on the distinction between misdeed and truth/lie telling. The findings of the present study suggest that, in the realm of lying and truth telling, a close relation between sociocultural practices and moral judgment exists. Specific social and cultural norms have an impact on children's developing moral judgments, which in turn, are modified by age and experience in a particular culture.     

Developmental changes in the contributions of phonological processing skills to Chinese character reading and arithmetic

This study examined the associations of phonological processing skills with reading and arithmetic ability in Chinese kindergartners (Mage = 5.56 years), third graders (Mage = 9.72 years), and fifth graders (Mage = 11.75 years) (N = 413) of Han descent. The results showed that phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) showed stronger relations than phonological memory with reading and arithmetic across grades. Furthermore, the associations of phonological awareness and RAN with reading were much stronger in kindergartners than in primary school children, whereas their relationships with arithmetic remained stable across grades. Among phonological skills, phonological awareness has a unique influence on arithmetic that is independent of Chinese character reading in third-graders and kindergartners. In contrast, RAN uniquely explained the variation in arithmetic skills in fifth graders when reading was statistically controlled for. These findings have important implications for understanding the co-development of reading and arithmetic across grades and raise the possibility of training in phonological awareness and/or RAN to help children at risk for learning disabilities.