Two-year-olds use the generic/nongeneric distinction to guide their inferences about novel kinds

Abstract

These studies investigated two hundred and forty-four 24- and 30-month-olds' sensitivity to generic versus non-generic language when acquiring knowledge about novel kinds. Toddlers were administered an inductive inference task, during which they heard a generic noun phrase (e.g., "Blicks drink milk") or a non-generic noun phrase (e.g., "This blick drinks milk") paired with an action (e.g., drinking) modelled on an object. They were then provided with the model and a non-model exemplar and asked to imitate the action. After hearing non-generic phrases, 30-month-olds, but not 24-month-olds, imitated more often with the model than with the non-model exemplar. In contrast, after hearing generic phrases, 30-month-olds imitated equally often with both exemplars. These results suggest that 30-month-olds use the generic/non-generic distinction to guide their inferences about novel kinds.