Do some of the dogs have a hat?

4-year-olds who predominantly or only speak English

This study will take place on a video call, live with a researcher! Clicking on the “Schedule a time to participate” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works for you. Once the call begins our researcher will introduce your child to our soft-toy “friend,” who will describe pictures of animals with objects, like cats wearing hats or elephants with balloons. We will ask your child to tell our friend whether their descriptions are good or bad.

There are many ways that language can be used to give quantity information about multiple objects or entities. We can use inexact words like “some,” “a few”, “each,” “all,” “most,” and “a lot,” precise numerical words like “three” and “four,” and phrases like “at least four,” “only three,” and “many of the Xs.” Previous research has shown that preschool- and kindergarten-aged children have yet to master the nuances of these words and phrases. In this study, we are interested in children’s preferred interpretation of these phrases, and how they change in different contexts and as they get older.

15 minutes

Within two weeks of completing the study you will be sent a $5 gift card to Target or Amazon.com. You will be compensated even if your child is unable to complete the whole study. However, we cannot compensate unless you attend the Zoom call with an age appropriate child, and we cannot compensate the participation of a single child more than once.