Recombinative generalization of within-syllable units in prereading children

This study demonstrates recombinative generalization of within-syllable uni ts in prereading children. Three kindergarten children learned to select pr inted consonant-vowel-consonant words upon hearing the corresponding spoken words. The words were taught in sets; there were six sets, presented conse cutively. Within sets, the four words that were taught had overlapping lett ers, for example, sat, mat, sop, and sug. Tests for recombinative generaliz ation determined whether the children selected novel words with the same co mponents as the trained words (e.g., mop and mug). Two children demonstrate d recombinative generalization after one training set, and the 3rd demonstr ated it after two training sets. In contrast, 2 other children, who receive d tests but no training, showed low accuracy across six sets. The 3 experim ental children then demonstrated highly accurate printed-word-to-picture ma tching, and named the majority of the printed words. These findings are a p romising step in the development of a computerized instructional technology for reading.