Preschoolers' word mapping: The interplay between labelling context and specificity of speaker information

Abstract

We assessed the effect of specificity of speaker information about an object on three-year-olds’ word mappings. When children heard a novel label followed by specific information about an object at exposure, children subsequently mapped the label to that object at test. When children heard only specific information about an object at exposure, they inferred that the label applied to a different object at test. Finally, non-specific information did not assist children in mapping a word to an object. Thus, children use speaker information as a word-mapping cue but this information is interpreted differently depending on how the discourse is initiated.