On the Synonymity of "More" and "Less": Comments on a Methodology

Preschool children were tested for their understanding of the words more and less in 2 conditions. One, a comprehension condition, was a replication of previous studies in which a single-error choice was given. The other, a construction condition, allowed 2 error choices for each term. Results from the comprehension condition were similar to those of previous studies, including the apparent tendency to interpret less as a synonym for more. However, results from the construction condition did not confirm the synonymity hypothesis. It is suggested that studies using a single-error choice bias the results toward detecting synonymity between more and less.