NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ1052235
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: N/A
The Effects of Word-Learning Biases on Children's Concept of Angle
Gibson, Dominic J.; Congdon, Eliza L.; Levine, Susan C.
Child Development, v86 n1 p319-326 Jan-Feb 2015
Despite evidence that young children are sensitive to differences in angle measure, older students frequently struggle to grasp this important mathematical concept. When making judgments about the size of angles, children often rely on erroneous dimensions such as the length of the angles' sides. The present study tested the possibility that this misconception stems from the whole-object word-learning bias by providing a subset of children with a separate label to refer to the whole angle figure. Thirty preschoolers (M = 4.86 years, SD = 0.53) were tested with a pretest-training-posttest design. At pretest, children showed evidence of the whole-object misconception. After training, children who were given a novel-word label for the whole object improved significantly more than those trained on the meaning of "angle" alone.
Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: SBE-541957; DGE-1144082