Cognitive Science

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ICOS 201

Module 1 – Language Acquisition

The focus of this experiment is concerned with children’s acquisition of gradable adjectives. Gradable adjectives are distinct in that they describe qualities that are measurable. For example, they include words that can be measured in varied degrees, such as size, length, age, etc. Gradable adjectives can be used in both the comparative and superlative forms. They can also be used with adverbs such as very or extremely to show their comparison in relation to a particular standard. Comparative adjectives are formed by adding the stem /-er/ to the end of the adjective. They are used to compare two nouns, i.e. big and bigger. Similarly, a superlative adjective is formed by adding the stem /-est/ to the end of the adjective. Superlatives are used to compare three or more nouns, i.e. big and biggest. However, not all adjectives have the same representation. For example, although something can be bigger or fuller, it cannot be wooden-er or extinct-er. Similarly, although you can use an adverb modifier and say something is very big, you cannot use the same modifier to say something is very extinct. This is because big is a gradable adjective, but extinct is not. In other words, you can compare degrees of size (big, bigger, biggest), but not degrees of extinct (extinct-er, extinct-est?). The focus of this experiment then, is concerned with whether or not children acquire the ability to differentiate between the two forms innately, or whether the process is learned. For that purpose, I will examine children within the age ranges of 3-6. If the children demonstrate a strong ability to differentiate between gradable and non-gradable adjectives as they get older, it is more likely to assume that the acquisition process is learned, rather than innate. For my experiment, I would gather about 40 children, representing four age groups: 10 three-year olds, 10 four-year olds, 10 five-year olds, and 10 six-year olds. In...