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Words and plans: early language and the development of intelligent action*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Alison Gopnik
Alison Gopnik
Affiliation:
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
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Abstract

Many early words encode aspects of plans, that is, actions performed in order to bring about events. Gone and down encode the fact that an action is intended to bring about a certain type of event. There and oh dear encode the success or failure of plans, no encodes the rejection of a plan. More encodes the repetition of a plan. It is argued that the concepts encoded by gone and down are like the concepts that underlie trial- and-error problem-solving and are developed after 12 months. The more abstract concepts encoded by there, oh dear, no and more are associated with the development of insight after 18 months. These early words are acquired because they are relevant to the child's cognitive problems.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , June 1982 , pp. 303 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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Footnotes

[*]

A version of this paper was presented at the Reading Child Language Seminar, Reading, April 1979. It is based on work undertaken for a University of Oxford doctoral dissertation. I am grateful to Professor Jerome Bruner, Dr Gillian Cohen and Dr Andrew Meltzoff for helpful discussions and criticism. Author's address: Department of Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor St. W., Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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