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ERIC Number: EJ971201
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jun
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-0009
EISSN: N/A
Two-Year-Old Children Differentiate Test Questions from Genuine Questions
Grosse, Gerlind; Tomasello, Michael
Journal of Child Language, v39 n1 p192-204 Jan 2012
Children are frequently confronted with so-called "test questions". While genuine questions are requests for missing information, test questions ask for information obviously already known to the questioner. In this study we explored whether two-year-old children respond differentially to one and the same question used as either a genuine question or as a test question based on the situation (playful game versus serious task) and attitude (playful ostensive cues versus not). Results indicated that children responded to questions differently on the basis of the situation but not the expressed attitude of the questioner. Two-year-old children thus understand something of the very special communicative intentions behind test questions. (Contains 1 footnote.)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A