Two-year-old Max sees a rabbit and calls it a "bunny." He then sees a large white hamster and calls it a "bunny," too. In this scenario, the application of a word to objects that are inappropriate for the word's meaning is referred to as
A) deferred imitation.
B) underextension.
C) infantile amnesia.
D) overextension.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario exemplifies overextension, which is when a child applies a word to objects that are inappropriate for the word's meaning. In this case, Max is calling both a rabbit and a hamster "bunny," which is an overextension of the word's meaning. Underextension, on the other hand, is when a child applies a word too narrowly, such as only calling their own pet dog "dog" and not recognizing other dogs as such. Deferred imitation refers to a child's ability to imitate a model's behavior after a delay, and infantile amnesia refers to the inability to remember events from early childhood.

Two-Year-Old Max Sees a Rabbit and Calls It a "Bunny