The Language of Mechanical Support in Children: Is it ‘Sticking’, ‘Hanging’, or simply ‘On’?
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Advisor
Laura Lakusta
Access Type
Open Access
Start Date
26-4-2023 9:45 AM
End Date
26-4-2023 10:44 AM
Description
There are many types of physical support (support-from-below; cup on table) with some being complex requiring mechanical means (coat on hook, stamp on envelope). In English, 6 year olds and adults tend to use lexical verbs to encode mechanical support, but it is unclear whether 4 year olds do so. The current study tests the hypothesis that 4-year-olds will map more lexical expressions to dynamic mechanical support events rather than static configurations (e.g., toy is put/hung/taped to door versus toy is on door), and that 4-year-olds may have a bias to use result state verbs (hang), whereas 6-year olds and adults may have a bias to use either result state verbs or manner of attachment verbs (stick, tape). 4- and 6-year-olds, and adults were presented with an elicited production task showing dynamic videos of a toy being attached to a tree or door with a visible or hidden mechanism (tape, clip, pin), and asked to describe what happened. To give children the best chance to use lexical verbs, they were re-tested if non-lexical verbs were used. The results suggest that 4-year-olds use lexical verbs, specifically “hang” for visible events, suggesting a bias for result state verbs. For hidden events, they use “put” as much as “hang”. 6-year-olds and adults use lexical verbs (hang, stick, tape) most of the time for all events. 6-year-olds have a bias for result state verbs for hidden events, and adults have a bias to use manner of support verbs for all events.
The Language of Mechanical Support in Children: Is it ‘Sticking’, ‘Hanging’, or simply ‘On’?
There are many types of physical support (support-from-below; cup on table) with some being complex requiring mechanical means (coat on hook, stamp on envelope). In English, 6 year olds and adults tend to use lexical verbs to encode mechanical support, but it is unclear whether 4 year olds do so. The current study tests the hypothesis that 4-year-olds will map more lexical expressions to dynamic mechanical support events rather than static configurations (e.g., toy is put/hung/taped to door versus toy is on door), and that 4-year-olds may have a bias to use result state verbs (hang), whereas 6-year olds and adults may have a bias to use either result state verbs or manner of attachment verbs (stick, tape). 4- and 6-year-olds, and adults were presented with an elicited production task showing dynamic videos of a toy being attached to a tree or door with a visible or hidden mechanism (tape, clip, pin), and asked to describe what happened. To give children the best chance to use lexical verbs, they were re-tested if non-lexical verbs were used. The results suggest that 4-year-olds use lexical verbs, specifically “hang” for visible events, suggesting a bias for result state verbs. For hidden events, they use “put” as much as “hang”. 6-year-olds and adults use lexical verbs (hang, stick, tape) most of the time for all events. 6-year-olds have a bias for result state verbs for hidden events, and adults have a bias to use manner of support verbs for all events.