Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, First Language, 36 (5), 2016, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the First Language page: http://fla.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Mutual exclusivity develops as a consequence of abstract rather than particular vocabulary knowledge
AU - Kalashnikova, Marina
AU - Mattock, Karen
AU - Monaghan, Padraic
N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, First Language, 36 (5), 2016, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the First Language page: http://fla.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/
PY - 2016/11/15
Y1 - 2016/11/15
N2 - Mutual exclusivity (ME) refers to the assumption that there are one-to-one relations between linguistic forms and their meanings. It is used as a word-learning strategy whereby children tend to map novel labels to unfamiliar rather than familiar referents. Previous research has indicated a relation between ME and vocabulary development, which could either be due to children's developing knowledge of the labels for familiar objects, or to enhanced general word-learning skills. In this study, ME was related to receptive vocabulary for 17- to 19-month-old children in a novel paradigm where children's familiarity with the objects and labels was controlled. It was found that infants with larger receptive vocabularies employed ME to a greater extent than infants with a smaller vocabulary size. The results indicate that ME use is more reliable in infants with larger receptive vocabulary size, and, critically, that ME gradually consolidates as an abstract word-learning strategy as infants' linguistic experience increases.
AB - Mutual exclusivity (ME) refers to the assumption that there are one-to-one relations between linguistic forms and their meanings. It is used as a word-learning strategy whereby children tend to map novel labels to unfamiliar rather than familiar referents. Previous research has indicated a relation between ME and vocabulary development, which could either be due to children's developing knowledge of the labels for familiar objects, or to enhanced general word-learning skills. In this study, ME was related to receptive vocabulary for 17- to 19-month-old children in a novel paradigm where children's familiarity with the objects and labels was controlled. It was found that infants with larger receptive vocabularies employed ME to a greater extent than infants with a smaller vocabulary size. The results indicate that ME use is more reliable in infants with larger receptive vocabulary size, and, critically, that ME gradually consolidates as an abstract word-learning strategy as infants' linguistic experience increases.
KW - Fast mapping
KW - lexical acquisition
KW - mutual exclusivity
KW - referent selection
KW - vocabulary
KW - word learning
KW - SIMILAR-SOUNDING WORDS
KW - REFERENT SELECTION
KW - BILINGUAL INFANTS
KW - PHONETIC DETAIL
KW - DISAMBIGUATION
KW - OBJECT
KW - CHILDREN
KW - LANGUAGE
KW - RECOGNITION
KW - CONSTRAINTS
U2 - 10.1177/0142723716648850
DO - 10.1177/0142723716648850
M3 - Journal article
VL - 36
SP - 451
EP - 464
JO - First Language
JF - First Language
SN - 0142-7237
IS - 5
ER -