The development of simile comprehension: From comparison to scalar implicature

Madeleine Long, Vishakha Shukla, Paula Rubio-Fernández

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Similes require two different pragmatic skills: appreciating the intended similarity and deriving a scalar implicature (e.g., “Lucy is like a parrot” normally implies that Lucy is not a parrot), but previous studies overlooked this second skill. In Experiment 1, preschoolers (N = 48; ages 3–5) understood “X is like a Y” as an expression of similarity. In Experiment 2 (N = 99; ages 3–6, 13) and Experiment 3 (N = 201; ages 3–5 and adults), participants received metaphors (“Lucy is a parrot”) or similes (“Lucy is like a parrot”) as clues to select one of three images (a parrot, a girl or a parrot-looking girl). An early developmental trend revealed that 3-year-olds started deriving the implicature “X is not a Y,” whereas 5-year-olds performed like adults.
Original languageEnglish
JournalChild Development
Volume92
Issue number4
Early online date25 Jan 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2021
Event10th Annual Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development - Budapest, Hungary
Duration: 30 Jan 2022 → …

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