To what extent does children’s performance on the definition task differ by linguistic
condition?

• Analysis of the immediate post test revealed that there was a trend for the children in
the Inference and Definition condition to perform better in the definition task than the
children in the Lexical contrast condition. Furthermore, the children in the Analogy
condition performed significantly better than children in the Lexical contrast
condition. No significant differences were found during the delayed post test.

• Linguistic condition differences within each age group were also investigated. The
same pattern was found within each age group. Particularly, the 4 year-olds in the
Analogy condition performed significantly better than the 4 year olds in the Lexical
contrast condition during the delayed post test. Furthermore, there was a trend for the
6 year-olds in the Definition condition to perform better than the 6 year-olds in the
Analogy and Lexical contrast conditions during the immediate post test. Additionally,
the 6 year-olds in the Inference condition performed significantly better than the 6
year-olds in the Definition and Contrast conditions during the delayed post test.

To what extent does children ^,s success on the definition task change between the immediate
and delayed post test ?

• No significant differences between the immediate and the delayed post test were
found. Comparison of children’s performance between the two post tests within each
age group and linguistic condition revealed the same pattern.

To what extent does children ^,s performance on the definition task differ by their existing
vocabulary?

• No significant differences were found in children’s performance on the definition task
by their existing vocabulary. The same pattern was evident within each age group and
linguistic condition.

To what extent does children’s performance on the definition task differ by their
phonological memory?

• Children with high phonological memory performed better than children with low
phonological memory for both post tests. Significant differences were found during
the immediate post test. The same pattern was found within each age group and

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