Children's production of inferences from oral texts∗

This paper is concerned with the ability of children from three grade levels (Grade 1, Grade 3, and Grade 5) to produce inferences. Two main interence types are distinguished: formal inferences, which are derived on the basis of the structure of the propositions; and inferences which are invited by the content and context of the propositions. The first two experiments deal with the production of the former formal inferences. It is shown that even young children are capable of deriving formally structured inferences if the propositions are presented in a coherent and meaningful context. The third experiment shows that Grade 1 children are as capable as Grade 5 children of producing invited inferences. It is argued that, with development, children become able to manipulate propositions per se, independent of their relationship to the child's prior knowledge and expectancies.