TY - JOUR

T1 - An individual differences perspective on pragmatic abilities in the preschool years

AU - Bohn, Manuel

AU - Tessler, Michael Henry

AU - Kordt, Clara

AU - Hausmann, Tom

AU - Frank, Michael C.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - Pragmatic abilities are fundamental to successful language use and learning. Individual differences studies contribute to understanding the psychological processes involved in pragmatic reasoning. Small sample sizes, insufficient measurement tools, and a lack of theoretical precision have hindered progress, however. Three studies addressed these challenges in three- to 5-year-old German-speaking children (N = 228, 121 female). Studies 1 and 2 assessed the psychometric properties of six pragmatics tasks. Study 3 investigated relations among pragmatics tasks and between pragmatics and other cognitive abilities. The tasks were found to measure stable variation between individuals. Via a computational cognitive model, individual differences were traced back to a latent pragmatics construct. This presents the basis for understanding the relations between pragmatics and other cognitive abilities. Research Highlights: Individual differences in pragmatic abilities are important to understanding variation in language development. Research in this domain lacks a precise theoretical framework and psychometrically high-quality measures. We present six tasks capturing a wide range of pragmatic abilities with excellent re-test reliability. We use a computational cognitive model to provide a substantive theory of individual differences in pragmatic abilities.

AB - Pragmatic abilities are fundamental to successful language use and learning. Individual differences studies contribute to understanding the psychological processes involved in pragmatic reasoning. Small sample sizes, insufficient measurement tools, and a lack of theoretical precision have hindered progress, however. Three studies addressed these challenges in three- to 5-year-old German-speaking children (N = 228, 121 female). Studies 1 and 2 assessed the psychometric properties of six pragmatics tasks. Study 3 investigated relations among pragmatics tasks and between pragmatics and other cognitive abilities. The tasks were found to measure stable variation between individuals. Via a computational cognitive model, individual differences were traced back to a latent pragmatics construct. This presents the basis for understanding the relations between pragmatics and other cognitive abilities. Research Highlights: Individual differences in pragmatic abilities are important to understanding variation in language development. Research in this domain lacks a precise theoretical framework and psychometrically high-quality measures. We present six tasks capturing a wide range of pragmatic abilities with excellent re-test reliability. We use a computational cognitive model to provide a substantive theory of individual differences in pragmatic abilities.

KW - cognitive modeling

KW - individual differences

KW - language development

KW - pragmatics

KW - Psychology

KW - Educational science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85153708011&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/a203254e-65ea-3f3e-af36-ed8cc2bcf671/

U2 - 10.1111/desc.13401

DO - 10.1111/desc.13401

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 37089076

AN - SCOPUS:85153708011

VL - 26

JO - Developmental Science

JF - Developmental Science

SN - 1363-755X

IS - 6

M1 - e13401

ER -