In the syntax literature, it is commonly assumed that a constraint on linguistic competence blocks extraction of "wh-"expressions (e.g. "what" or "which book") from embedded questions, referred to as "wh-"islands. Furthermore, it is assumed that there is an argument/adjunct asymmetry in extraction from "wh-"islands. We report results from two…

In this paper we discuss a computational cognitive model of children's poor performance on pronoun interpretation (the so-called Delay of Principle B Effect, or DPBE). This cognitive model is based on a theoretical account that attributes the DPBE to children's inability as hearers to also take into account the speaker's perspective. The cognitive…

A study was conducted in which a series of stories was used to teach six four- to five-year-olds to identify objects as "nouns," attributes of objects as "adjectives," and actions as "verbs." All the children appeared to have well-formed semantic fields for the three form classes. (Author/RM)