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Developmental differences in the effects of negative and positive evidence

Western Oregon University, strappc{at}wou.edu

Dana M. Bleakney

Western Oregon University

Augusta L. Helmick

Western Oregon University

Hayley M. Tonkovich

Western Oregon University

The current study sought to assess development differences in children's learning of irregular nouns and verbs under conditions of negative and positive evidence. Fifty-five 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children learned nonsense nouns and verbs and were later asked to produce plural forms for the nouns and past tense forms for the verbs. Forms were constructed to be irregular, and half were provided through negative evidence and half through positive evidence. Age, form (noun vs. verb) and evidence type (negative vs. positive) interacted: 3-year-olds learned more nouns through negative evidence t(15) = 2.76, p = 0.014, r² = 0.34, while 5-year-olds learned more verbs through negative evidence t(16) = 2.281, p = 0.04, r² = 0.25. Four-year-olds showed equal learning across the two conditions. These results suggest developmental differences in the efficacy of negative evidence.

Key Words: Developmental differences • irregular noun forms • irregular verb forms • negative evidence • positive evidence

First Language, Vol. 28, No. 1, 35-53 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0142723707084840


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