Developing Referential Communication: A Hierarchy of Skills

SONNENSCHEIN, SUSAN, and WHITEHURST, GROVER J. Developing Referential Communication: A Hierarchy of Skills. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 1936-1945. This study is 1 in a series in which we have attempted to determine the nature and psychological organization of the components of referential communication. Our premise has been that preschoolers lack knowledge of certain procedural rules of communication; they often are unaware that a message should differentiate referents from nonreferents and that certain rules are applicable for both speaking and listening. Training on these rules has led to improved speaking and listening performance. In this study, we investigate whether previous failures to obtain transfer from speaking and listening tasks to criticism tasks were because of criticism requiring a more abstract level of skill, and if so, the nature of that skill. 5-year-olds received difference-rule training on either speaking, listening, or criticism tasks (this type of training had previously been effective in improving speaking or listening skills). Data indicated that the skills required for a child to assign blame for others' communicative failures are superordinate to the child's speaking, listening, and self-evaluation skills, and the skills involved in evaluating others' communicative performance can transfer to the child's own speaking and listening. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical applications of the findings vis-A-vis referential communication as well as the adaptability of such a methodology for probing the organization of any group of related tasks and skills.