The Perceptual Basis of the Understanding of Some Spatial Adjectives in Primary School Children

Abstract

To comprehend words adult listeners use a series of psychological processes, which children learn to apply as their cognitive structures develop. Children acquire full comprehension of spatial adjectives by mapping the words onto the a priori knowledge they already have about space. The order of acquisition is determined by the perceptual salience of certain features in spatial concepts, and is mediated by language. The salient features are, for humans, the primary and secondary reference points, the vertical plane, and the upward and forward directions. The secondary reference point is an implicit standard against which the comparative measurements implied by spatial adjectives are made. To assess comprehension of the secondary reference system the comparative forms of spatial adjectives are tested...