Children's inference generation across different media

TLDR

We investigated whether children’s inference‑generation ability generalizes across aural, televised, and written media and predicts narrative comprehension beyond basic language skills and vocabulary. We followed two cohorts of 4‑ and 6‑year‑olds as they turned 6 and 8, assessing inference and narrative comprehension with aural, televised, and written stories, and measuring basic language skills and vocabulary at each time point. Inference‑generation skills were highly correlated across media and significantly predicted narrative comprehension beyond language skills, vocabulary, and media factors, highlighting implications for early diagnosis and intervention.

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the degree to which children's inference generation ability generalises across different media and predicts narrative comprehension over and above basic language skills and vocabulary. To address both aims, we followed two cohorts of children aged 4 and 6 as they turned 6 and 8 years old, respectively. At each time point we assessed their inference and narrative comprehension skills using aural, televised and written stories. We also assessed their basic language skills and vocabulary. The findings demonstrated that children's inference generation skills were highly inter‐related across different media for both cohorts and at both time points. Also, children's inference generation had a significant contribution to children's narrative comprehension over and above basic language skills, vocabulary and media factors. The current set of findings has important theoretical and practical implications for early diagnosis and intervention in young children's high‐order comprehension skills.