When hearsay trumps evidence: How generic language guides preschoolers’ inferences about unfamiliar things

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dc.contributor.authorChambers, Craig G.
dc.contributor.authorGraham, Susan A.
dc.contributor.authorTurner, Juanita N.
dc.date.accessioned2020-04-22T16:59:53Z
dc.date.available2020-04-22T16:59:53Z
dc.date.issued2008-01
dc.description.abstractTwo experiments investigated 4-year-olds’ use of descriptive sentences to learn non-obvious properties of unfamiliar kinds. Novel creatures were described using generic or non-generic sentences (e.g., These are pagons. Pagons/These pagons are friendly). Children’s willingness to extend the described property to a new category member was then measured. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that children reliably extended the property to new instances after hearing generic but not non-generic sentences. Further, the influence of generic language was much greater than effects related to amount of tangible evidence provided (the number of creatures bearing the critical property). Experiment 2 revealed that children continued to extend properties mentioned in generic descriptions even when incompatible evidence was presented (e.g., an example of an unfriendly ‘pagon’). The findings underscore preschoolers’ keen understanding of the semantics of generic sentences and suggest that inferences based on generics are more robust than those based on observationally-grounded evidence.en_US
dc.identifier.citationChambers, C. G., Graham, S. A., & Turner, J. N. (2008). When hearsay trumps evidence: How generic language guides preschoolers’ inferences about unfamiliar things. "Language and Cognitive Processes", 23:5, 749-766. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960701786111en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960701786111en_US
dc.identifier.issn0169-0965
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/111848
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherRoutledgeen_US
dc.publisher.departmentPsychologyen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.hasversionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Torontoen_US
dc.rightsUnless otherwise indicated, this material is protected by copyright and has been made available with authorization from the copyright owner. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_US
dc.titleWhen hearsay trumps evidence: How generic language guides preschoolers’ inferences about unfamiliar thingsen_US
dc.typejournal articleen_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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