Abstract(s) :

(Anglais) Why do children link up chicken and egg before building the link between chicken and rabbit? Acquisition of thematic and taxonomic links in semantic memory in childhood Simoes Loureiro, I., Collette, C., Rossignol, M., Lefebvre, L. Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology department, Institute of Heath sciences and technologies, University of Mons Correspondence: Isabelle Simoes Loureiro, Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology department, University of Mons (UMONS), Place du Parc, 18, 7000, Mons. Email: isabelle.simoesloureiro@umons.ac.be Overview and aim. Lexico-semantic organization in children contained different links between concepts. Taxonomic links refer to relationships between concepts sharing common properties in a category. Thematical links refer to links uniting items from sharing a spatio-temporal or contextual link. There are two main theoretical positions about the temporality of acquisition of taxonomic and thematic links in childhood. The first is traditional, proposing an earlier development of thematic links comparing to taxonomic one. The second view is pluralistic, supporting a parallel development of both relationships. The objective of this study is to challenge both views of conceptual development in children. Method. We used a semantic priming paradigm varying conditions (taxonomic versus thematic). 90 children were tested (30 children aged 5; 30 children aged 7 and 30 children aged 9). Results. ANOVA on repeated measures were carried using the condition (taxonomic vs thematic) as ‘within subject factor,’ and the groups as ‘between subject factor’. Results indicated a group effect, F(2, 87) = 8.259, p=.001, ƞ²= .160 (demonstrating a development of priming effect with age), a condition effect, F(1,87)=11.492, p=.001, ƞ²=.117 (with bigger priming effect for thematic links than for taxonomic one) but no interaction effect. Discussion and conclusions. Results showed a progressive development of the lexico-semantic network in 5- to 9-year-old children with specific evolutions in both modes of organization. Our results fit well with the theory supporting a parallel development of both links, but with an easier process of thematic relationships. Keywords: semantic memory, taxonomic, thematic, category development