Adults frequently use generic language (e.g., "Boys play sports") to communicate information about social groups to children. Whereas previous research speaks to how children often interpret information about the groups described by generic statements, less is known about what generic claims may implicitly communicate about unmentioned groups (e.g., the possibility that "Boys play sports" implies that girls do not). Study 1 (287 four- to six-year-olds, 56 adults) and Study 2 (84 four- to six-year-olds) found that children as young as 4.5 years draw inferences about unmentioned categories from generic claims (but not matched specific statements)-and that the tendency to make these inferences strengthens with age. Study 3 (181 four- to seven-year-olds, 65 adults) provides evidence that pragmatic reasoning serves as a mechanism underlying these inferences. We conclude by discussing the role that generic language may play in inadvertently communicating social stereotypes to young children.

中文翻译：

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我们所说的话的意想不到的后果：一般性的陈述向孩子们传达了哪些关于未提及类别的信息


成人经常使用通用语言（例如“男孩参加运动”）向儿童传达有关社会群体的信息。虽然以前的研究谈到了儿童通常如何解释有关通用陈述所描述的群体的信息，但人们对哪些通用声明可能隐含地传达了未提及的群体的信息知之甚少（例如，“男孩参加体育运动”的可能性意味着女孩不这样做）。研究 1（287 名 4 至 6 岁儿童，56 名成人）和研究 2（84 名 4 至 6 岁儿童）发现，年仅 4.5 岁的儿童会从一般说法中对未提及的类别进行推论（但不匹配）具体陈述）——并且随着年龄的增长，做出这些推论的倾向会增强。研究 3（181 名 4 至 7 岁儿童，65 名成人）提供的证据表明，实用推理是这些推论的基础机制。最后，我们讨论了通用语言在无意中向幼儿传达社会刻板印象方面可能发挥的作用。