Determinants of Quantifier Interpretation in Typical and Atypical Child Language

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

This is a project to study information that speakers convey by exploiting pragmatic inferences. To understand what people say, one listens both to what is said and what is "unsaid". If there is a plate of 5 cookies on the table and a child eats them all and then tells her sister who made them, "I ate some of the cookies." the child is not strictly speaking lying. Notice that if one eats all of the cookies on a plate, it is also true that one has eaten some of the cookies on that plate. This "some, and possibly all" interpretation is given by the logic of what is said, while the "some, but not all" interpretation is considered to be a part of meaning that is unsaid and is appropriate in some contexts, but not others. Understanding when each of these two interpretations is called for is thought to be a question of which part of the mind is being put to use. The part of the mind that is dedicated to language only is thought to be responsible for the "some, and possibly all" interpretation, while higher order reasoning--not specific to language--is thought to be responsible for the "some, but not all" interpretation. When are children able to grasp this relatively subtle difference in language use? If science could find a moment in their mental developmental when they understand one, but not the other, it would constitute evidence of which parts of the mind develop more quickly than others. Further, do children who are known to have severe language problems show evidence of understanding one kind of interpretation and not the other? If so, not only would there be evidence of distinct developmental timelines for distinct parts of the mind, there might also be a way of identifying children with these disorders early so that they could receive therapeutic services to help them learn to cope with their language problem. This study tests a sample of children who speak Spanish as a first language, because the difference between the types of meaning is clearer in Spanish than in many languages, as a result of there being a word with only the "some and possibly all" meaning ("unos") and another word for that can have either meaning ("algunos"). This project will examine what both typically-developing children and children with the developmental language deficit labeled Specific Language Impairment know about these constructions. Preschool-aged children with this language disorder are very likely to receive a dyslexia diagnosis once they reach school age. Consequently, one aim of this study is to identify differences--in terms of their knowledge of this aspect of language--between children who have language problems and those who do not, as a means for diagnosing language problems early in child development.