Language Acquisition Exam 2 Practice

What does mutual exclusivity refer to in early lexical learning?

The tendency to learn two labels for the same object. The bias that objects all have multiple labels for the same referent. The belief that labels map to colors rather than objects. The bias that objects have a single label; children map a new word to an unlabeled object.

Correct Answer:

The bias that objects have a single label; children map a new word to an unlabeled object.

Explanation:

Mutual exclusivity is the bias that objects have a single label, so when children hear a new word they map it to an object that doesn’t already have a known label. This helps young learners expand their vocabulary quickly by avoiding giving two different words to the same object. For example, if one object is already labeled and a second object has no name, a new word is likely to be linked to the unnamed object rather than to change the label of the familiar one. The other patterns described—giving two labels to one object, or assuming every object has many labels, or focusing on colors instead of objects—don’t fit this specific bias, which centers on one-label-per-object mappings and using a new word to label an unlabeled referent.

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