Suitcase Experiment

With the Suitcase study we essentially want to find out if and how children become aware of different requirements on the use of the definite article and pronouns. In an act-out task, 3-year-olds have to pick one out of three toys in cases where these different requirements are or are not met. As a control, we also tested whether children were sensitive to the difference between the definite and the indefinite article.

After having collected a first sample of 3 year olds, we wanted to follow up the results with two additional versions of the study: In the one case, we tested older children, so 4 year olds, in their comprehension of the definite article and pronouns to see whether we could find an improvement in their behavior compared to the 3 year olds. In the other case, we manipulated the material for testing the difference between indefinite and definite article to see whether here, the manipulated material could give us results that would more clearly match our expectations.

Also, we tested the same material with adults to confirm our expectations regarding adult comprehension of the definite article and pronouns.