Do children use language structure to discover the recursive rules of counting?
Do children use language structure to discover the recursive rules of counting?
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cogpsych.2019.101263
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发表时间：
2020-03-01
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Barner, David
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Schneider, Rose M.;Sullivan, Jessica;Barner, David
我们通过学习支配动词计数的生产性语言规则来检验这样的假设，即儿童获得后继函数的知识--这是一个基本原则，即每个自然数n都有一个后继n+1。以往的研究表明，相比于使用复杂程度较高的语言的人(Miller&Stigler，1987)，使用不太复杂的计数词汇表的人在较早的年龄就拥有更多的计数和数学知识(例如Miller&Stigler，1987)。在这里，我们测试了计数列表透明度的差异是否影响了三种计数列表相对透明的语言(广东话、斯洛文尼亚语和英语)和两种计数列表相对不透明的语言(印地语和古吉拉特语)儿童对后继功能的习得。我们测量了3.5-6.5岁儿童对计数表递归结构的掌握程度，包括两个评估生产性计数的任务，然后我们将其与后续函数知识的测量相关联。尽管与较透明的语言相比，较不透明的语言与较低的计数熟练程度和后续功能任务绩效有关，但一种独特的语言内分析方法显示，几乎每种语言的生产性计数措施与后续知识之间存在密切的关系。我们的结论是，学习计数的产生式规则是获得跨语言递归继承函数知识的关键一步，并且这种学习的时间线随计数列表透明度的变化而变化。
We test the hypothesis that children acquire knowledge of the successor function - a foundational principle stating that every natural number n has a successor n + 1 - by learning the productive linguistic rules that govern verbal counting. Previous studies report that speakers of languages with less complex count list morphology have greater counting and mathematical knowledge at earlier ages in comparison to speakers of more complex languages (e.g., Miller & Stigler, 1987). Here, we tested whether differences in count list transparency affected children's acquisition of the successor function in three languages with relatively transparent count lists (Cantonese, Slovenian, and English) and two languages with relatively opaque count lists (Hindi and Gujarati). We measured 3.5- to 6.5-year-old children's mastery of their count list's recursive structure with two tasks assessing productive counting, which we then related to a measure of successor function knowledge. While the more opaque languages were associated with lower counting proficiency and successor function task performance in comparison to the more transparent languages, a unique within-language analytic approach revealed a robust relationship between measures of productive counting and successor knowledge in almost every language. We conclude that learning productive rules of counting is a critical step in acquiring knowledge of recursive successor function across languages, and that the timeline for this learning varies as a function of count list transparency.