How Children Learn the Meanings of Words

Paul Bloom (Yale University), Jeffrey S. Rosenschein

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English

MIT Press
25 January 2002

Language acquisition; Child & developmental psychology; Cognition & cognitive psychology

Series: Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change

How do children learn that the word ""dog"" refers not to all four-legged animals, and not just to Ralph, but to all members of a particular species? How do they learn the meanings of verbs like ""think,"" adjectives like ""good,"" and words for abstract entities such as ""mortgage"" and ""story""? The acquisition of word meaning is one of the fundamental issues in the study of mind.

According to Paul Bloom, children learn words through sophisticated cognitive abilities that exist for other purposes. These include the ability to infer others' intentions, the ability to acquire concepts, an appreciation of syntactic structure, and certain general learning and memory abilities. Although other researchers have associated word learning with some of these capacities, Bloom is the first to show how a complete explanation requires all of them. The acquisition of even simple nouns requires rich conceptual, social, and linguistic capacities interacting in complex ways.

This book requires no background in psychology or linguistics and is written in a clear, engaging style. Topics include the effects of language on spatial reasoning, the origin of essentialist beliefs, and the young child's understanding of representational art. The book should appeal to general readers interested in language and cognition as well as to researchers in the field.

By: Paul Bloom (Yale University)
Edited by: Jeffrey S. Rosenschein
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 431g
ISBN: 9780262523295
ISBN 10: 0262523299
Series: Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change
Pages: 314
Publication Date: 25 January 2002
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at Yale University.