The developmental process of the interpretation of ambiguous referents and its neural basis

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13928
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Kyushu Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Murakami Taro 九州女子大学, 人間科学部, 講師 (20762074)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: コミュニケーション / 語用論 / 曖昧発話の解釈 / 心の理論 / 発達障害児 / NIRS

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study assessed preschoolers on their ability of disambiguation. Children participated in a reference assignment task in which an experimenter asked them to answer explicit (e.g. "What color is this?") and ambiguous (e.g. "What about this?") questions about colorful objects. The results showed that the ability of disambiguation based on a particular context develops between 3 and 5 years.
In terms of the developmental process, this ability related to Theory of Mind positively, but not to Perspective-taking. And, there was not observed the activation of the prefrontal cortex during the task, therefore the ability of disambiguation did not relate to Executive Function. Moreover, children with developmental disabilities showed a different tendency from typically developed children.

Free Research Field

発達心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究が示した結果の学術的意義は、幼児期のコミュニケーション能力の発達過程について、実験心理学的なアプローチを行ったことである。他者の発話をどのように解釈するのかについての実験的な方法論はまだ確立されているとは言えず、その点で発達研究における新しい方法論の一つを提示したと言える。
また、発達障害児を対象とした調査から、発達障害(特に自閉症スペクトラム障害)を有する幼児の解釈傾向が示された。これらの結果から、発達障害のアセスメント・ツールとしての臨床有用性が示唆され、社会的意義をもつと言える。