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Chapter 2. Negation, uncertainty, and the Truth Value Judgment Task

  • Takuya Goro
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Studies in Chinese and Japanese Language Acquisition
This chapter is in the book Studies in Chinese and Japanese Language Acquisition

Abstract

This article discusses a variant of the Truth Value Judgment Task (TVJT), which I call the uncertainty mode. In a TVJT experiment conducted with children, a puppet manipulated by an experimenter presents the test sentences to the participant. In the uncertainty mode of TVJT, the crucial test sentences are presented as a guess regarding what has happened in an experimental story, rather than as a description or as a prediction. The crucial feature of this experimental design is that the experimental story employs a certain structure so that the puppet can access only incomplete information at the time when he provides the test sentence. This methodology allows the researcher to create a pragmatic context in which negation and uncertainty expressions, such as disjunction or indefinite pronouns, can be felicitously used. I will review the background from which the uncertainty mode emerged, as well as the advantages of this variant of the TVJT.

Abstract

This article discusses a variant of the Truth Value Judgment Task (TVJT), which I call the uncertainty mode. In a TVJT experiment conducted with children, a puppet manipulated by an experimenter presents the test sentences to the participant. In the uncertainty mode of TVJT, the crucial test sentences are presented as a guess regarding what has happened in an experimental story, rather than as a description or as a prediction. The crucial feature of this experimental design is that the experimental story employs a certain structure so that the puppet can access only incomplete information at the time when he provides the test sentence. This methodology allows the researcher to create a pragmatic context in which negation and uncertainty expressions, such as disjunction or indefinite pronouns, can be felicitously used. I will review the background from which the uncertainty mode emerged, as well as the advantages of this variant of the TVJT.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Studies in Chinese and Japanese Language Acquisition 1
  4. Part I. Tasks
  5. Chapter 1. The Truth Value Judgment Task 13
  6. Chapter 2. Negation, uncertainty, and the Truth Value Judgment Task 41
  7. Part II. Binding
  8. Chapter 3. Logophoric z iji in Mandarin child language 65
  9. Chapter 4. Kare and the acquisition of bound variable interpretations by Korean speaking learners of Japanese 85
  10. Chapter 5. Interpretation of bound pronouns by learners of Japanese Sign Language 107
  11. Chapter 6. The acquisition of the non-subject status of nominative objects in Japanese 127
  12. Part III. Scope Interactions
  13. Chapter 7. Scrambling and locality constraints in child Japanese 147
  14. Chapter 8. On scope interaction between subject QPs and negation in child grammar 165
  15. Chapter 9. Native and non-native comprehension of the Japanese existential quantifier nanko-ka 197
  16. Part IV. Wh-words and Logical Expressions
  17. Chapter 10. Free choice and wh -indefinites in child Mandarin 223
  18. Chapter 11. The acquisition of the wh -pronoun duo-shao in child Mandarin 237
  19. Chapter 12. Logical expressions in Mandarin-speaking children with autism spectrum disorders 265
  20. Name Index 281
  21. Subject Index 285
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.60.03gor

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Studies in Chinese and Japanese Language Acquisition 1
  4. Part I. Tasks
  5. Chapter 1. The Truth Value Judgment Task 13
  6. Chapter 2. Negation, uncertainty, and the Truth Value Judgment Task 41
  7. Part II. Binding
  8. Chapter 3. Logophoric z iji in Mandarin child language 65
  9. Chapter 4. Kare and the acquisition of bound variable interpretations by Korean speaking learners of Japanese 85
  10. Chapter 5. Interpretation of bound pronouns by learners of Japanese Sign Language 107
  11. Chapter 6. The acquisition of the non-subject status of nominative objects in Japanese 127
  12. Part III. Scope Interactions
  13. Chapter 7. Scrambling and locality constraints in child Japanese 147
  14. Chapter 8. On scope interaction between subject QPs and negation in child grammar 165
  15. Chapter 9. Native and non-native comprehension of the Japanese existential quantifier nanko-ka 197
  16. Part IV. Wh-words and Logical Expressions
  17. Chapter 10. Free choice and wh -indefinites in child Mandarin 223
  18. Chapter 11. The acquisition of the wh -pronoun duo-shao in child Mandarin 237
  19. Chapter 12. Logical expressions in Mandarin-speaking children with autism spectrum disorders 265
  20. Name Index 281
  21. Subject Index 285
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