Abstract
Three experiments were devised involving 176 subjects aged between 5-0 and 8-1 years to examine children's receptive control of a set of four intersentence relations (identity, antonymy, structure reversal, equivalence) and to relate this linguistic ability to levels of cognitive functioning as assessed by the Piagetian measureDeux Sens de l'Orientation. The results indicate a significant but moderate correlation between performance on the two tasks. Cognitive precedence with respect to corresponding linguistic ability was observed in only one of the experiments, where linguistic performance was unsually low due to phonological interference between the lexical items used. The results were interpreted as giving evidence of linguistic reversibility—partially independent from cognitive reversibility though isomorphic with it—in the perceptual-figurative mode, resulting in flexible and efficient processing of linguistic inversions and even converse relations by preoperational children. These data complement previous psycholinguistic research in the Piagetian tradition, which had shown cognitive precedence relative to corresponding linguistic processes. It is suggested that previous research had tapped mainly linguistic processes in the cognitive operational mode, and that future research needs to examine the interrelation between the two modes.
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Reference Notes
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This research was supported by an operating grant awarded to the author by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada (A-9786), and by a postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the Canada Council (W 750514). The valuable assistance provided by members of the Laboratoire de Psychologie et d'Epistémologie Génétique at the Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, where the author spent a year of postdoctoral studies, is gratefully acknowledged. Gratitude is also expressed to Monique Lefebvre-Pinard for helpful comments on the manuscript. We further acknowledge the cooperation of the Montreal Catholic School Board and the staff of Ecole Jean Nicolet, Ecole Saint-Isaac-Jogues, Ecole Cardinal Léger, Ecole Sainte-Louise-de-Marillac, and Ecole Saint-Jean-de-Matha in Montreal.
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Feider, H. Does linguistic reversibility exist? an experimental exploration of a psycholinguistic construct. J Psycholinguist Res 11, 19–33 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067499
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067499