(Over)generalisation and a few laughs

We all know that generalising from one situation to the next is really important in learning. Being able to generalise, in my opinion, represents an aspect of logical reasoning known as induction, which really refers to determining a 'rule' that applies universally. Kids with an intellectual disability usually have problems with generalisation and that is why we often have to explicitly teach them or overteach certain concepts. Being able to generalise cuts down on a lot of cognitive resources one has to spend on learning a particular concept and hence makes learning more efficient.

Anyway, YX has been creating a number of laughs with her 'generalisation' or rather, OVERgeneralisation. One is in her language skills. We know that young kids learning the rules of grammar and/or syntax often make language errors because of their tendency to overgeneralise these rules. For example, a young kid might say "I eated dinner" because they've learnt that "-ed" denotes past tense. YX has not made that type of error yet since she is still grasping the fundamentals of syntax, i.e., subject-verb-object (no sign of knowledge about grammar yet!). Nonetheless, she has done stuff like the following:

Mama: Say, I love Mama.
YX (the parrot): I love Mama.
Mama: Say, I love Papa.
YX (ever the good student): I love Papa.
Mama: Good job!
YX (very enthusiastically): I love Mama (points correctly)! I love Papa (points at something faraway)! (Mama is still smiling at this point) I love Xuan Xuan (points to herself)!
Mama: !!!

After recovering from her initial shock, Mama went on to point out that most people do not explicitly proclaim their love for themselves. Not sure whether my two-year-old understood what I said. Anyhow, Mama was extremely amused and hopeful that YX will never lose that sense of self-confidence. There is, of course, nothing wrong with the syntax of her statements. They are just amusing given the adult understanding of social conventions. 

Now, after learning 'I love Mama' quite well, this little girl has gone on to learn how to use that to manipulate her Mama! I've noticed that she has started using 'I love Mama' each time I say that I am upset with her. She will give me her sweetest smile and say, "I love Mama!" and come over to ask for or give a hug. Ok, what is Mama to do except to melt, right? In her little head, she must be going, "Bingo!" Talk about the art of manipulation.

For a while now, I have been noticing that when learning new words, YX often tries to generalise the use of the new word learnt to the significant people in her life, namely, her parents, herself, her grandparents and her aunties. Once, Hubby and I used the word "ang moh" in our conversation. My naughty Hubby told YX to say the word "ang moh." And obedient YX subsequently went, "Mama ang moh, Papa ang moh, Xuan Xuan ang moh." (!!!!) She even told her paternal grandmother, "Ah Ma ang moh! Popo ang moh!", much to our amusement. Now, THAT is OVERovergeneralisation. (I corrected this overgeneralisation, of course.)   

Besides generalising from one situation to the next, one can also generalise from one person to the next. In YX's case, she just made me laugh again this morning (as described on my Facebook status):

YX: Mama, take out bib!

Mama: No Xuan Xuan, you're eating a biscuit, so you must wear a bib ok? (Her bib's the plastic type with a little scoop at the bottom to collect crumbs.)

YX: (looking thoughtful) Hmm? (Pauses) Mama eat bread. Mama no wear bib? 

Mama: !!!!

Again, after recovering from the initial shock, I fumbled through a barely-put-together explanation of how the bib is meant for collecting the biscuit crumbs, pointing to the crumbs in her bib. I explained that her grandma and I were using plates instead to collect our crumbs, and that she could not because the plate would be too heavy for her. Then, because I was thinking about Matt Preston from the Masterchef series, I pointed out to her that sometimes adults do look like we use 'bibs' but they are really called napkins, and used a tissue paper on myself to demonstrate. Not sure whether my two-year-old got all that, but oh well, I tried. 

Of course, she is being perfectly logical in her reasoning, because since both she and I were eating, why was she using a bib, and not me? I did not want to say she was a baby, hence that half-baked explanation about crumbs, haha! 

Anyway, my two-year-old never ceases to amaze me with her developmental leaps, cognitive or otherwise. As a psychologist, I must say I feel extremely privileged to have a first-class seat in viewing her daily development. As a parent, I cannot help but fall a bit more in love, and swell a bit more with pride, with my little cutie every day. :)