Figure 5.16 Total number of correct responses on the contrast task by age for both post

Significant correlations were found between children’s age and their performance on the
contrast task during the delayed post test. The same pattern was found when their vocabulary
scores were controlled for but not when their memory scores were controlled for (see Table
in Appendix 5.23 for correlations).

As figure 5.16 illustrates, the older children performed better than the younger ones. In order
to further investigate whether the differences were significant two one Way ANOVAs were
carried out for the two post tests. Age was the independent factor and score in the contrast
task was the dependent factor. Significant differences were found for the delayed post test
(Kruskal-Wallis, 1 Way ANOVA: X²= 6.6, df=2, p<.05). Post hoc analysis for the delayed
post test revealed that the 6 year-olds performed significantly better than the 4 year-olds
(Mann-Whitney: Z=2.3 p<.05). There was also a trend for the 6 year-olds to perform better
than the 5 year-olds. No significant differences were found for the immediate post test.

Whether the same pattern was evident within each linguistic condition was also investigated.
Significant differences were found for the contrast condition for both post tests (Immediate:
Kruskal-Wallis, 1 Way ANOVA: X²= 6.8, df=2, p<.05; Delayed: Kruskal-Wallis, 1 Way
ANOVA: X²= 6.5, df=2, p<.05). Post hoc analysis revealed that the 6 year-olds performed
significantly better on the contrast task than the 4 year-olds for both post tests (immediate:
Mann-Whitney: Z=2.5, p<.05; delayed: Mann-Whitney: Z=2.5, p<.05). No significant
differences were found for the other linguistic conditions.

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