Young children's comprehension of modal expressions

Abstract

The present study assessed children's knowledge of how speakers use modal auxiliaries such as might and have to to indicate their degree of belief in the truth of their statements (epistemic modality), and to socially regulate behavior (deontic modality). We also considered whether modals comprise a semantic system that is progressively attained in a way similar to other semantic systems. Children aged 3 to 5 years were given two tasks: one that assessed comprehension of modal expressions for the epistemic domain (here, the spatial location of objects), and one that assessed comprehension of such expressions for the deontic domain (i.e., permission for the restrictions on behavior). Results showed that even 3-year-olds comprehend partial aspects of meaning of epistemic expressions considered individually. Development occurred primarily between the ages of 3 and 4 in the ability to make judgments of the relative strength and synonymy of pairs of modal expressions. These results, which show a progressive attainment of the meaning of modals, indicate metacognitive and social cognition ability not usually attributed to preschoolers.