significant for post test 3. Significant differences were also found for the each group
across testing.
Concluding remarks for the association task
► The analysis of the association task revealed that children in the Definition group
provided more justifications than children in the other groups. Overall, no significant
differences in the provision Ofjustifications were found over time. Furthermore, the
provision Ofjustifications did not differ by the children’s prior knowledge of the
lexical items and by the semantic domain. On the other hand, there was a trend for
the children with high level baseline Comprehension and Naming vocabulary to
provide more appropriate justifications than children with low level baseline
Comprehension and Naming vocabulary.
► Children provided "perceptual”, "semantic" and “thematic” justifications for their
associations. Provision of “perceptual” justifications did not differ by group, whereas
children from the Definition group provided more “semantic” justifications than
children from the other experimental groups. Additionally, the Phonological group
provided more “thematic” justifications than children from the Lexical contrast and
the Definition groups. Childrenprovided, in general, fewer “perceptual” justifications
over time. Children’s provision of “perceptual” and “semantic” justifications did not
differ by their knowledge of the lexical items, while children provided more
“thematic” justifications for the partially represented than the unknown words. Lastly,
children provided more “perceptual” justifications for the words describing animals
than artifacts, whereas they provided more “semantic” and “thematic” justifications
for the words describing artifacts than the words describing animals.