This procedure involves two experimenters. One experimenter plays the role of a story teller and the other plays the role of a puppet. The storyteller acts out a story using various toys and props. At the end of the story, the puppet tells the child what he thinks happened in the story. The child’s job is to tell the puppet whether he is right or wrong. In our lab, we have been using this technique to examine various aspects of the acquisition of syntax and semantics.
Click to watch a video demonstrating the Truth Value Judgement Task.
"Every horse didn't jump over the fence." This
is an example of an ambiguous sentence we can study using the Truth Value
Judgement Task.
Meaning 1 (M1): None of the horses jumped over the fence.
Meaning 2 (M2): Some did jump and some didn't.
What do kids think? To find out, we tell stories where M1 is false
and M2 is true. Watch the second video here.
This raised a new question: Can highlighting M2 in a different kind of sentence help kids access M2 in the ambiguous sentence? Our method was to tell the same sorts of stories, but our puppet says unambiguous "Not every…," sentences. Later, after a similar story, the puppet says the ambiguous "Every horse didn't…" sentences. Watch the next video here.