Young children’s understanding of denial

Bibliographic Data

ID9795804
AuthorsKeith Austin (University of Manchester, corresponding author), A L Theakston (0000-0002-9483-7893, University of Manchester), Elena Lieven (0000-0002-2270-8910, University of Manchester), M Tomasello (0000-0002-1649-088X, Max Planck Society)
Year2014
Volume50
Issue8
Pages2061-2070
Publication date2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopmental Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/a0037179
PMID24911566
OpenAlexW2051115339
LanguageEN
Citations received66
References cited24

Although a fair amount is known about young children's production of negation, little is known about their comprehension. Here, we focus on arguably the most complex basic form, denial, and how young children understand denial, when it is expressed in response to a question with gesture, single word, or sentence. One hundred twenty-six children in 3 age groups (Ms = 1 year 9 months, 2 years 0 months, and 2 years 4 months) witnessed an adult look into 1 of 2 buckets and then, in response to a question about whether the toy was in there, communicate either something positive (positive head nod, "yes," "it is in this bucket") or negative (negative head shake, "No," "It's not in this bucket"). The youngest children did not search differently in response to any of the communicative cues (nor in response to an additional cue using both gesture and single word). Children at 2 years 0 months searched at above-chance levels only in response to the negative word and negative sentence. Children at 2 years 4 months were successful with all 3 types of cues in both positive and negative modalities, with the exception of the positive sentence. Young children thus seem to understand the denial of a statement before they understand its affirmation, and they understand linguistic means of expressing denial before they understand gestural means

Comprehension · Denial · Developmental psychology · Gesture · Linguistics · Psychoanalysis · Sentence · Child and Animal Learning Development · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Language Development and Disorders · Psychology