A Study of Preschool Children's Reasoning with an Exclusive Interpretation of "Or"
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Authors
Jorgensen, Katia E.
Issue Date
2005
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
There is a debate between psycholinguists and logicians about whether people use an
exclusive or interpretation (XOR) or an inclusive or interpretation (lOR), and when an
understanding of each emerges in development. In past studies the youngest participants
have been 6 yrs old, therefore the present study looks at or interpretations in preschoolers
ranging in ages from 3 to 6 yrs old, and at how context and negation affect or
interpretations. Experiment 1, 2, and 3 had the same 35 participants, 12 3 year olds, 18 4
year olds, 4 5 year olds, and I six year old. In Experiment I participants placed toys in a
basket according to a request, in Experiment 2 they watched a video of a teacher and
student playing the game and decided whether the student answered correctly, and in
Experiment 3 they watched a video without volume and had to decide what the teacher
told the student to put in the basket. XOR was used more often than lOR in Experiment
1, whereas in Experiment 2 lOR was used more than XOR In Experiment 3 lOR was
never used to describe two objects placed in the basket. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was
used to analyze the data, and showed that there was a significant difference in distribution
of or interpretations according to age in Experiment I (W=. 000, p<. 05) and Experiment 2
( W= .000, p<.OS). These experiments revealed that an understanding of or emerges at a
much younger age than past research has shown.
Description
vii, 49 p.
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