.
Is the provision of contextual properties influenced by the semantic domain of the lexical
items?
• All the children provided more “contextual” properties for the words describing
animals than for the words describing artifacts across testing. The differences were
significant for post test 3. The same pattern was found for each group. The
differences significant for the Definition group during post tests 2 and 3.
“Functional properties ”
Is there a differential impact of the type of exposure to new lexical items that the children
receive on the provision of functional properties?
• No significant differences were found for post test 1, while significant differences
were found for post tests 2 and 3. During post test 2 the Definition group provided
significantly more "functional'' properties than the Ostensive definition group.
• During post test 3 the Definition group provided significantly more “functional”
properties than the Control and the Ostensive definition groups. In addition, the
Lexical contrast group provided significantly more “functional” properties than the
Control and the Ostensive definition groups. Lastly, the Definition group provided
significantly more “functional” properties than the Lexical contrast groups.
Does children ,s provision of functional properties increase with increased exposure to the
lexical items?
• The children provided significantly more “functional” properties during post test 3
than post tests 1 and 2.
Does the children’s prior knowledge of the lexical items influence the provision of
functional properties?
• During post test 1 and post test 3 the children provided more “functional” properties
for the partially represented words than the unknown words. The same pattern was
significant for the Lexical contrast and the Definition groups during post test 3.