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Ambiguity and implicature in children's discourse comprehension*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Sally Jackson and
Scott Jacobs
Sally Jackson
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Scott Jacobs
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
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Abstract

21 first graders and 20 third graders were told to pick drawings of clowns out of an array on the basis of ambiguous messages. One of the messages could be taken to refer to either of two clowns, depending on which interpretive strategy the child employed. The other message could be given no definite interpretation. Although 23 of 41 children refused to make a definite choice for the second message, 31 specified choices for the first message. First graders applied an Antecedence Maxim strategy. Third graders used a Quantity Maxim strategy.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , February 1982, pp. 209 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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References

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