Abstract

EISENBERG, Zena Winona. The development of temporal concepts through language. Psicol. Reflex. Crit. [online]. 2011, vol.24, n.1, pp. 80-88. ISSN 0102-7972.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79722011000100010.

Life in modern cities exposes a young child to numerous abstract concepts of time. Since birth, a child is introduced to activities with set schedule, set order, and duration. In this study it was investigated the development of time concepts through language. Twenty families and their 36 to 65 months old children who were recruited from day care centers and preschools in a large metropolitan area in the USA participated in this study. Parents were asked to audiotape four dinner conversations at home with their child. Results point to the different roles parents play in the negotiation of time concepts, as well as the importance of children's verbal development in the use of time concepts.

Keywords : Time concepts; Language development; Conceptual development; Language and thought.