Children's understanding of the relation between referential knowledge and referential behavior

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Linguistics

Background:

• Young children frequently exhibit difficulties in distinguishing between literal utterances and intended meanings in communication.
• Understanding referential communication is crucial for developing effective social and linguistic skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the specific aspects of referential communication that kindergarten, second, and fourth graders find confusing.
• To determine how situational factors influence children's understanding of what is said versus what is meant.

Main Methods:

• Four experiments were conducted, manipulating the source of referential knowledge (contextual details, utterance content).
• Children assessed the sufficiency of knowledge for referent identification and its origin (utterance alone).
• Experiments examined confusion between internal representations, referential behavior, and real-world referents.

Main Results:

• Children's confusion between what is said and meant varies significantly with situational factors.
• Judgments of listener knowledge were influenced by both internal information representations and external referential behavior.
• The study identified specific age-related patterns in how children assess communicative knowledge.

Conclusions:

• Children's say-mean confusion is not a uniform phenomenon but is modulated by context.
• Developmental changes in cognitive processes underlie children's ability to accurately assess communicative knowledge.
• Interventions aimed at improving referential communication should consider these nuanced factors.