Imagine that a young child is presented with a novel word, "puppy," when her uncle says, "What a sweet puppy" In front of the child are two objects, a stuffed dog-"dog" is a word the child already knows-and a can opener, an object the child has never seen before. The child makes the assumption that the novel word refers to the can opener through an expectation referred to as
A)the mutual exclusivity assumption.
B)fast mapping.
C)the whole-object assumption.
D)cross-situational word learning.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mutual exclusivity assumption is the expectation that each object has only one label, leading the child to assume that the novel word "puppy" refers to the unfamiliar object, the can opener, rather than the already known object, the stuffed dog.

Imagine That a Young Child Is Presented with a Novel