Determinants of Quantifier Interpretation in Typical and Atypical Child Language

这是一个通过利用实用推论来研究说话者传达的信息的项目。 为了理解人们所说的内容，人们既要倾听所说的内容，又要倾听“未说出的”内容。如果桌子上有一盘 5 块饼干，一个孩子把它们全部吃掉，然后告诉她做饼干的姐姐：“我吃了一些饼干。”严格来说，孩子并没有说谎。请注意，如果一个人吃掉了盘子上的所有饼干，那么这个人也确实吃掉了该盘子上的一些饼干。这种“一些，可能是全部”解释是由所说内容的逻辑给出的，而“一些，但不是全部”解释被认为是未说出的含义的一部分，并且在某些上下文中是合适的，但在其他上下文中则不然。理解何时需要这两种解释中的每一种被认为是使用大脑的哪一部分的问题。大脑中仅致力于语言的部分被认为负责“一些，可能是全部”解释，而高阶推理（不特定于语言）被认为负责“一些，但不是全部”解释。孩子什么时候能够掌握这种语言使用上相对微妙的差异？如果科学能够在他们理解其中一个而不是另一个的时候找到他们的心理发展的时刻，那么这将成为证明思维的哪些部分比其他部分发展得更快的证据。此外，已知有严重语言问题的儿童是否表现出理解一种解释而不理解另一种解释的证据？如果是这样，不仅有证据表明大脑的不同部分有不同的发育时间表，还可能有一种方法可以尽早识别患有这些疾病的儿童，以便他们能够接受治疗服务，帮助他们学会应对语言问题。这项研究测试了以西班牙语为第一语言的儿童样本，因为西班牙语中的含义类型之间的差异比许多语言中的更清晰，因为存在一个仅具有“部分或可能全部”含义的单词（“unos”），而另一个单词可以具有相同的含义。任一含义（“algunos”）。该项目将检查正常发育的儿童和患有特定语言障碍的发展性语言缺陷的儿童对这些结构的了解。患有这种语言障碍的学龄前儿童一旦达到学龄，很可能会被诊断为阅读障碍。因此，这项研究的一个目的是确定有语言问题的儿童和没有语言问题的儿童之间在这方面语言知识方面的差异，作为在儿童发展早期诊断语言问题的一种手段。

This is a project to study information that speakers convey by exploiting pragmatic inferences. To understand what people say, one listens both to what is said and what is "unsaid". If there is a plate of 5 cookies on the table and a child eats them all and then tells her sister who made them, "I ate some of the cookies." the child is not strictly speaking lying. Notice that if one eats all of the cookies on a plate, it is also true that one has eaten some of the cookies on that plate. This "some, and possibly all" interpretation is given by the logic of what is said, while the "some, but not all" interpretation is considered to be a part of meaning that is unsaid and is appropriate in some contexts, but not others. Understanding when each of these two interpretations is called for is thought to be a question of which part of the mind is being put to use. The part of the mind that is dedicated to language only is thought to be responsible for the "some, and possibly all" interpretation, while higher order reasoning--not specific to language--is thought to be responsible for the "some, but not all" interpretation. When are children able to grasp this relatively subtle difference in language use? If science could find a moment in their mental developmental when they understand one, but not the other, it would constitute evidence of which parts of the mind develop more quickly than others. Further, do children who are known to have severe language problems show evidence of understanding one kind of interpretation and not the other? If so, not only would there be evidence of distinct developmental timelines for distinct parts of the mind, there might also be a way of identifying children with these disorders early so that they could receive therapeutic services to help them learn to cope with their language problem.This study tests a sample of children who speak Spanish as a first language, because the difference between the types of meaning is clearer in Spanish than in many languages, as a result of there being a word with only the "some and possibly all" meaning ("unos") and another word for that can have either meaning ("algunos"). This project will examine what both typically-developing children and children with the developmental language deficit labeled Specific Language Impairment know about these constructions. Preschool-aged children with this language disorder are very likely to receive a dyslexia diagnosis once they reach school age. Consequently, one aim of this study is to identify differences--in terms of their knowledge of this aspect of language--between children who have language problems and those who do not, as a means for diagnosing language problems early in child development.