Two-year-old Nerea uses the word "ball" for anything round, including the moon, a globe, and a light fixture. She is making an __________ error.
A) overextension
B) overregularization
C) underregularization
D) underextension

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Overextension is the tendency of young children to use a word they know to refer to other objects that share some but not all of the properties of the original object. In this case, Nerea is using the word "ball" to refer to any round object, which is an overextension of the word's meaning. The other options are not applicable to this scenario. Overregularization refers to the overapplication of a grammatical rule, while underregularization is the failure to apply a grammatical rule when it is appropriate. Underextension refers to the opposite of overextension - the use of a limited meaning for a word, such as only using the word "ball" for one specific ball rather than applying it to all round objects.

Two-Year-Old Nerea Uses the Word "Ball" for Anything Round, Including