Meaning and grammar seminar

Speaker: Alice Rees (University of Edinburgh)

Title: Priming children’s number interpretation

Abstract: There is a debate about the exactness of children’s number representations. Some argue that numbers are lexically exact whereas others suggest the exact interpretation of a number arises through pragmatic inferencing. There are many parallels between numbers and quantifiers, such as having upper and lower bound interpretations. A key difference however, is that children are able to interpret numbers exactly from very early on whereas they continue to struggle with pragmatic implicatures. Work in adults suggests common processes involved in exact number interpretations and scalar implicatures. This study asks if children’s number interpretations are malleable. Preliminary data analysis suggests that 3-4 year olds number interpretations can be primed.