ERIC Number: EJ722894
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 17
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: N/A
The Nominal Passover Effect Depends on Addressee Age, Speaker Goal, and Object Similarity
Merriman, William E.; Evey, Julie A.
Child Development, v76 n6 p1185-1201 Nov-Dec 2005
If after teaching a label for 1 object, a speaker does not name a nearby object, 3-year-olds tend to reject the label for the nearby object (W.E. Merriman, J.M. Marazita, L.H. Jarvis, J.A. Evey-Burkey, and M. Biggins, 1995a). In Studies 1 (5-year-olds) and 3 (3-year-olds), this effect depended on object similarity. In Study 2, when a speaker used a label without teaching it, 5-year-olds showed no passover effect. 3-year-olds showed none for inanimate objects, but one for animate objects. When extraneous factors that may have promoted animate object individuation were eliminated (Study 3), 3-year-olds showed the effect when a label was taught, but not when it was merely used. Children honor rational restrictions on when the unacceptability of a name can be inferred from its nonoccurrence.
Descriptors: Preschool Children, Instruction, Age Differences, Cognitive Processes, Object Permanence, Visual Perception
Journal Customer Services, Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770 (Toll Free); Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: subscrip@bos.blackwellpublishing.com.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A