title: Young Children's Knowledge of the Symbolic Nature of Writing.
abstract: Two experiments with one hundred and fourteen 3- to 5-year-old children examined whether children understand that a printed word represents a specific spoken word and that it differs in this way from a drawing. When an experimenter read a word to children and then a puppet used a different but related label for it, such as "dog" for the word ‹puppy›, children often stated the puppet's label was incorrect. In an analogous task with drawings, children were more likely to state that the puppet was correct in using an alternative label. The results suggest that even young children who cannot yet read have some understanding that a written word stands for a specific linguistic unit in a way that a drawing does not.
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Treiman
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis.
authors.forename: Lana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hompluem
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.affiliation: Washington University in St. Louis.
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Markson
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male