When 4-year old Morris hears his preschool teacher say, "Susan was punched by John," he thinks that Susan was the person who did the punching. Morris's mistaken belief is most likely due to the fact that young children:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Morris's misunderstanding stems from his reliance on word order to interpret sentences. At his age, children often expect the subject of a sentence to be the doer of the action, hence his confusion when the sentence structure suggests otherwise.

When 4-Year Old Morris Hears His Preschool Teacher Say, "Susan