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Toddlers' persistence when communication fails: Response motivation and goal substitution

San Diego State University, mkfagan{at}indiana.edu

Communicative breakdowns were created in response to toddlers' single-word requests by means of two feedback conditions: one involving goal substitution, the other stating explicitly that the speaker was not understood (i.e., `I don't know what you mean'). Participants were 15 children, ages 17—25 months. Children typically abandoned their original requests in response to goal substitution but revised or repeated their requests when confronted with `I don't know what you mean.' Thus, in the early stages of language development, toddlers' response persistence appeared to depend in large part upon motivation for goal attainment.

Key Words: Communication failure • communicative breakdown • conversational repair behaviors • goal substitution • parent-child interaction • single-word requests

First Language, Vol. 28, No. 1, 55-69 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0142723707083280


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