Understanding violations of Gricean maxims in preschoolers and adults.

Mako Okanda,Yusuke Moriguchi,Shoji Itakura,Kosuke Asada

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00901

Abstract

This study used a revised Conversational Violations Test to examine Gricean maxim violations in 4- to 6-year-old Japanese children and adults. Participants' understanding of the following maxims was assessed: be informative (first maxim of quantity), avoid redundancy (second maxim of quantity), be truthful (maxim of quality), be relevant (maxim of relation), avoid ambiguity (second maxim of manner), and be polite (maxim of politeness). Sensitivity to violations of Gricean maxims increased with age: 4-year-olds' understanding of maxims was near chance, 5-year-olds understood some maxims (first maxim of quantity and maxims of quality, relation, and manner), and 6-year-olds and adults understood all maxims. Preschoolers acquired the maxim of relation first and had the greatest difficulty understanding the second maxim of quantity. Children and adults differed in their comprehension of the maxim of politeness. The development of the pragmatic understanding of Gricean maxims and implications for the construction of developmental tasks from early childhood to adulthood are discussed.

Highlights

Background of this Study Pragmatic abilities are key to interpreting other people’s utterances and responding to them appropriately
Some studies have established that children are able to understand and explain violations of the Gricean maxims only after they have started formal schooling (Ackerman, 1981; Conti and Camras, 1984; Axia and Baroni, 1985), but other studies have found that even younger children showed some understanding of the maxims (Eskritt et al, 2008; Gillis and Nilsen, 2013; Vázquez et al, 2013)
The present study examined developmental changes in the awareness of Gricean maxim violations in 4–6-year-old typically developing Japanese children; similarities between children and adults were studied

Summary

Introduction

Background of this Study Pragmatic abilities are key to interpreting other people’s utterances and responding to them appropriately. These abilities are acquired during childhood and encompass a variety of skills, such as reading the minds of others, communicating with them according to their statements, and understanding conversational rules. Grice (1975) identified rules for conversation, known as conversational maxims, based on which people interpret others’ utterances. According to Grice, people assume that normal conversation should follow these rules, and they try to infer the underlying meaning of utterances in which the maxims are violated. Understanding conversational rules is fundamental for smooth communication, and conversational rules that are shared in society may contribute to mutual understanding during conversation. Knowing the age at which children begin to understand these rules, as well as the specific rules that are understood earlier or later, can contribute to the understanding of characteristics of children’s conversation and identification of the most effective ways for adults (teachers, court judges, researchers, and so on) to talk to children

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