What hinders child semantic computation: children's universal quantification and the development of cognitive control

J Child Lang. 2012 Nov;39(5):919-56. doi: 10.1017/S0305000911000316. Epub 2011 Dec 19.

Abstract

Recent studies on the acquisition of semantics have argued that knowledge of the universal quantifier is adult-like throughout development. However, there are domains where children still exhibit non-adult-like universal quantification, and arguments for the early mastery of relevant semantic knowledge do not explain what causes such non-adult-like interpretations. The present study investigates Japanese four- and five-year-old children's atypical universal quantification in light of the development of cognitive control. We hypothesized that children's still-developing cognitive control contributes to their atypical universal quantification. Using a combined eye-tracking and interpretation task together with a non-linguistic measure of cognitive control, we revealed a link between the achievement of adult-like universal quantification and the development of flexible perspective-switch. We argue that the development of cognitive control is one of the factors that contribute to children's processing of semantics.

MeSH terms

  • Child Development
  • Child Language*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cognition*
  • Humans
  • Language Tests
  • Psychology, Child
  • Semantics*