title: Comparison, basic-level categories, and the teaching of adjectives.
abstract: We tested 24 caregivers of preschool children to determine whether their strategies for teaching novel adjectives are consistent with children's demonstrated abilities to learn these words (e.g., Waxman & Klibanoff, 2000). On each of four trials, caregivers had to select one of two cards, both of which showed a familiar object bearing an unfamiliar property. On the within-basic card, the object was accompanied by a second object from the same basic-level category; on the across-basic card, this second object came from a different basic-level category. Caregivers' task was to choose the card that would be more helpful to teach a novel adjective for the unfamiliar property. If the second object differed from the first in terms of a novel target property, caregivers (N = 12) stated a strong preference for the within-basic card. If the two objects agreed in terms of the novel property, caregivers (N = 12) indicated a clear preference for the across-basic card. The findings offer new insight into the speed and efficiency of lexical development, by revealing that word teachers, like word learners (cf. Waxman & Klibanoff, 2000), are sensitive to the conditions under which certain contrasts (in property or in basic-level category) are effective in promoting the successful acquisition of novel adjectives.
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Manders
authors.forename: D Geoffrey
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014825:Vocabulary