Hollander Michelle A, Gelman Susan A, Raman Lakshmi
University of Michigan.
Oakland University.
Lang Cogn Process. 2009 May;24(4):481-505. doi: 10.1080/01690960802223485.
Many languages distinguish generic utterances (e.g., "Tigers are ferocious") from non-generic utterances (e.g., "Those tigers are ferocious"). Two studies examined how generic language specially links properties and categories. We used a novel-word extension task to ask if 4- to 5-year-old children and adults distinguish between generic and specific language, and judge that predicating a property of a depicted novel animal using generic language (e.g., "Bants have stripes"), rather than non-generic language (e.g., "This bant has stripes") implies a more kind-relevant connection between category and property. Participants were asked to endorse an extension of the label taught to a novel animal matching the target instance on either overall similarity or the mentioned property. Wording was found to have a significant effect on responses for both age groups. Altogether, the results of these studies suggest that the generic may be a default interpretation for young children, who need to learn the semantics of specific and set-theoretic expressions.
许多语言都区分类属表述（例如，“老虎很凶猛”）和非类属表述（例如，“那些老虎很凶猛”）。两项研究考察了类属语言如何特别地将属性和类别联系起来。我们使用了一个新造词扩展任务来询问4至5岁的儿童和成年人是否能区分类属语言和特定语言，并判断使用类属语言（例如，“班茨有条纹”）而非非类属语言（例如，“这只班茨有条纹”）来描述所描绘的新动物的属性，是否意味着类别和属性之间存在更与类别相关的联系。参与者被要求根据整体相似性或所提及的属性，认可将教给新动物的标签扩展到与目标实例匹配的动物身上。结果发现，措辞对两个年龄组的反应都有显著影响。总的来说，这些研究结果表明，类属表述可能是幼儿的默认解释，他们需要学习特定和集合论表达的语义。
