Generics as default? Comparing the acquisition of universals and generics in Spanish

Abstract

This paper reports an experiment that investigates interpretive distinctionsbetween two different expressions of generalization in Spanish. In particular, our aimwas to find out when the distinction between generic statements (GS) such as Tigershave stripes and universal quantified statements (UQS) such as All tigers have stripeswas acquired in Spanish-speaking children of two different age groups (4/5-year-oldsand 8/9-year-olds), and then compare these results with adults. The starting point ofthis research was the semantic distinction between GS and UQS in that the formeradmits exceptions, unlike the latter. On the other hand, cognitive psychologists haveobserved a Generic overgeneralization effect (GOG) consisting in allowing for UQSto be felicitous in the face of exceptions, thus proposing that this “error” stems frompeople misinterpreting UQS as GS and from GS being defaults (simpler, more easilylearned and processed) instead of involving quasi-universal quantification, which wasthe learned view from semantics. In the current paper we aimed to test the “Generics asDefault” (GAD) hypothesis by comparing GS and UQS in three different age ranges.Our data show that, overall, participants accept GS more often than they reject UQS.Moreover, we also confirm a hypothesized interaction between age and NP type (GSvs UQS). Further, we present several data points that are not predicted by the GAD,including an observed decline in the accuracy of GS in the older group of children aswell as in adults with respect to younger children, and that children fail at rejectinggenerics that adults reject.