Examined individual growth rates in definitional skill over a period of 3 to 6 years, for 68 low-income children. Results of the study support the notion that definitional skill is related to being part of an academic culture; low-income mothers, whose formal schooling is complete, generally do not give oral definitions to simple nouns as well as…

Examines the role of prior intention and knowledge in the comprehension of "forget" by young children. Results reveal that children initially have two interpretations of "forget": an unfilled desire and a state of not knowing. Discusses explanations for the late comprehension of "forget" in terms of representation of knowledge and intention,…

Examined the effect of homonymity on children's use of semantic context to derive word meaning. The study presented participants (preschoolers, second graders, and college students) with stories including nonsense words, familiar words used accurately, and homonymous words. Results suggest that homonymity inhibits children's tendency to derive…