A characteristic-to-defining shift in the development of word meaning

Many word meanings seem to have a mixture of two representational types, sometimes known as characteristic and defining features. It is proposed that meanings typically develop from representations in which characteristic features predominate to those in which defining features become more central....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 1984-01, Vol.23 (2), p.221-236
Main Authors: Keil, Frank C., Batterman, Nancy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Child development
Developmental psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
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Summary:Many word meanings seem to have a mixture of two representational types, sometimes known as characteristic and defining features. It is proposed that meanings typically develop from representations in which characteristic features predominate to those in which defining features become more central. (The same shift can also be described without the assumption of featural decomposition of meaning.) A study with preschool and elementary school children confirmed this proposal by showing that children's judgments of whether brief stories described valid instances of a concept shifted in a manner predicted by these hypotheses.
ISSN:0022-5371
0749-596X
DOI:10.1016/S0022-5371(84)90148-8