PMID: 9541775May 23, 1998Paper

On having complex representations of things: preschoolers use multiple words for objects and people

Developmental Psychology
Gedeon O Deák, M Maratsos

Abstract

Applying several names to an entity (polynomy) reflects the ability to categorize entities in different ways. Two experiments demonstrate preschoolers' abilities to apply multiple labels to representational objects and to people. In Experiment 1, 3- and 4-year-olds labeled representational objects and verified labels for story characters. In both tasks children reliably produced or accepted several words per entity and accepted a high percentage of both class-inclusive and overlapping word pairs. These results were replicated in Experiment 2; 3- to 5-year-olds also completed appearance-reality and receptive vocabulary tests. The mean number of words produced in the labeling task was significantly related to receptive vocabulary, but not to appearance-reality performance. The results indicate that preschoolers represent an entity as belonging to multiple categories (e.g., dinosaur and crayon). Implications for cognitive and language development, particularly the appearance-reality distinction and the mutual exclusivity bias, are discussed.

Citations

Apr 9, 2013·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Gedeon O Deák, Alexis J Toney
Jun 27, 2001·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·M SiegalS C. Want
Dec 17, 2009·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Anna V Fisher
Nov 3, 2006·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Gedeon O Deák
Dec 13, 2003·Child Development·Simone P Nguyen, Gregory L Murphy
Jun 11, 2003·Child Development·Gedeon O DeákKimberly Brenneman
Feb 14, 2006·Developmental Science·Vikram K Jaswal, Mikkel B Hansen
Mar 3, 2007·Child Development·Denis Mareschal, Seok Hui Tan
Apr 20, 2007·New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development·Eve V Clark
May 4, 2006·Developmental Science·Gedeon O Deák, Brian Enright
Aug 14, 2012·The British Journal of Developmental Psychology·Gillian M Waters, Sarah R Beck
Sep 29, 2004·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Eve V Clark
Jun 1, 2008·Infant and Child Development·Simone P Nguyen

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