FIGURE 6.8 Cues for word learning (a) Mutual exclusivity: Because this child already knows the name of the familiar object on the table, she will pick up the novel object when the adult asks her to “show me the blicket.” (b) Pragmatic cues: This child will assume that the novel word she hears the experimenter saying applies to the novel object the experimenter is looking at, even though the child cannot see the object and is looking at a different novel object when she actually hears the word. (c) Pragmatic cues: This child will learn “gazzer” as the name of the novel object that the adult smiles at triumphantly after she had previously announced that she wanted to find “the gazzer.”
COURTESY OF JUDY DELOACHE