Complexity and Blocked Trial Presentation in a Novel Verb Generalization Task

• Other Authors: Pruzansky, Rita (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Florida Atlantic University
• Subjects: Psycholinguistics.; Language acquisition.; Cognitive grammar.
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004622

The current study examined the role of complexity and initial variability of exemplars during learning in verb generalization. Children and adults learned two novel verbs in the context of two novel creatures across two sessions. After a second training session, participants completed a generalization task during which they were required to identify the verbs when presented with seven novel creatures of varying levels of complexity. Performance was compared across age group and condition. Participants who initially learned the verbs in the context of a single, simple exemplar demonstrated a higher proportion of correct responses than participants who initially learned the verbs with both a simple & complex exemplar. These results provide evidence that fewer exemplars during initial training of novel verbs may increase learning in young children, as well as some evidence that complex exemplars may increase the difficulty of learning and generalizing verbs. === Includes bibliography. === Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. === FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection