Answers to wh-questions: a developmental study

Forty children aged 3-6 years responded to items representing nine wh-question forms. Questions referred to three types of referential sources (conditions) based on immediacy and visual availability. The hierarchies of wh-question forms based on degree of difficulty were similar to those described in previous investigations. However, a significant interaction between referential conditions and wh-form was found to influence the relative complexity of the stimulus questions. The children were significantly less successful in giving appropriate and accurate responses when the question referred to objects, persons, or events not represented in the immediate setting. Recognition and delivery of the general category or kind of information required by a wh-form (functional appropriateness) appeared to predate substantially the ability to respond with fact, accuracy, logic, and credibility (functional accuracy). The results suggest consideration and control of referential source as well as appropriateness/accuracy response criteria in the evaluation and treatment of language-disordered children.