Browsing by Author "Nayer, Samantha L."

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    Children's communicative strategies in novel and familiar word situations
    (SAGE : First Language, 2006-10) Nayer, Samantha L.; Graham, Susan
    The present studies investigated 3-year-olds’ ability to adapt their communication based on their parents’ knowledge state when requesting familiar and novel objects. Children participated in a toy retrieval game during which their parent was present or absent during toy introductions. In Study 1, children used more specific requests and cue combinations in the parent-absent group versus parent- present group when requesting familiar labelled objects. In Study 2, a similar game was administered with adaptations to reduce cognitive demands. Children produced more specific requests in the parent-absent group compared with the parent-present group when requesting an unlabelled novel object. The results indicate that three-year-olds have an emergent ability to adapt their communicative behaviours based on their parents’ knowledge state.
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    Generics guide toddlers' inductive inferences about novel kinds
    (2007) Nayer, Samantha L.; Graham, Susan
    The present set of studies examined whether generic language guides 24- and 30- month-olds' inferences about novel kinds. Across three experiments, children were administered an inductive inference task in one of two conditions: (a) a generic condition, and (b) a non-generic condition. First, the experimenter introduced a novel model exemplar (e.g., a blue blick) accompanied by either a generic noun phrase (NP) (e.g., "Blicks drink milk") or a non-generic NP (e.g., "This blick drinks milk") and modeled a target action (a drinking motion with a cup). Children were then given the opportunity to imitate the target action with the novel model exemplar (e.g., the blue blick) and a novel non-model exemplar ( e.g., the orange blick). Experiment One was an initial examination of 30-month-olds' attention to generics when making inductive inferences about novel kinds within a supportive linguistic context (reminder group) and a less supportive linguistic context (no-reminder group). Results indicated that 30-month-olds in the non-generic group imitated significantly more often with the model exemplar compared to the non-model exemplar. In contrast, 30-month-olds in the generic group imitated equally as often with the model and non-model exemplars. Type of context (supportive versus less supportive) did not influence the results. Experiment Two investigated 24-month-olds sensitivity to generics within a supportive linguistic context. Results demonstrated that 24-month-olds in both the generic and non­generic groups imitated equally as often with the model and non-model exemplars, indicating that 24-month-olds do not appear to be sensitive to generics when making inductive inferences about novel kinds. Finally, Experiment Three was a control for plurality in the generic and non-generic NPs. Results indicated that, 30-month-olds in both the generic and non-generic groups imitated equally as often with the model and non-model exemplars, suggesting that, children were not sensitive to generic language when making inductive inferences when plurality was controlled. The results from the present set of experiments provide preliminary evidence that young children have an emerging ability to use generic language to guide their inductive inferences about novel kinds.
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    Two-year-olds use the generic/nongeneric distinction to guide their inferences about novel kinds
    (Society for Research In Child Development, 2011-03) Graham, Susan; Nayer, Samantha L.; Gelman, Susan A.
    These studies investigated two hundred and forty-four 24- and 30-month-olds' sensitivity to generic versus non-generic language when acquiring knowledge about novel kinds. Toddlers were administered an inductive inference task, during which they heard a generic noun phrase (e.g., "Blicks drink milk") or a non-generic noun phrase (e.g., "This blick drinks milk") paired with an action (e.g., drinking) modelled on an object. They were then provided with the model and a non-model exemplar and asked to imitate the action. After hearing non-generic phrases, 30-month-olds, but not 24-month-olds, imitated more often with the model than with the non-model exemplar. In contrast, after hearing generic phrases, 30-month-olds imitated equally often with both exemplars. These results suggest that 30-month-olds use the generic/non-generic distinction to guide their inferences about novel kinds.