When do Children avoid Backwards Coreference ?*
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1991
Abstract
This study investigated the claim that very young children avoid backwards coreference in their interpretation of sentences containing pronouns. Eighty-one children ranging in age from 3; 1 to 8;o and eight adults acted out four types of pronominal sentences. Cross-sectional data and individual response patterns reveal that children initially. prefer internal coreference even when such a response is disallowed for structural reasons. Avoidance of backwards coreference appears to be a late developing phenomenon characteristic of six-year-olds. Adult response patterns, which are manifested by some very young children, emerge as the dominant pattern by age seven.
DOI
10.1017/S0305000900011090
Montclair State University Digital Commons Citation
Hsu, Jennifer Ryan; Cairns, Helen Smith; Eisenberg, Sarita; and Schlisselberg, Gloria, "When do Children avoid Backwards Coreference ?*" (1991). Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 146.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/communcsci-disorders-facpubs/146
