Larry’s Reviews > How Children Learn the Meanings of Words > Status Update
Larry
is on page 71 of 314
Pragmatic explanation of the mutual exclusivity effect (PEMEE) (Clark, Markman): problem: when you make your intention to refer to the more familiar object using the less familiar word (out of a set containing a shoe and a whisk, point to a shoe, say “give me the item”), children still give you the less familiar thing (the whisk) (Woodward & Markman 1997). But this is compatible with PEMEE: child is just confused
— Jul 17, 2026 09:17AM
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Larry’s Previous Updates
Larry
is on page 202 of 314
Brown (1957): children use syntax as cue about what ontological category to pay attention to (if a verb, then an action) in word learning. Some corroborating results from McPherson (1991). Some controversy: maybe they use syntax to access, not learn, word meanings (Pinker 1989)
— Jul 22, 2026 08:49AM
Larry
is on page 115 of 314
Nouns don’t refer to objects and verbs don’t refer to actions; NPs and VPs (respectively) do
— Jul 18, 2026 08:56AM
Larry
is on page 105 of 314
Spelke-object bias in word learning overcoming Quines problem. Other possible solutions (ToM, syntax) not as precocious. US children generalize simple objects and substances on the basis of shape, but Japanese children don’t: possible explanation is Japanese doesn’t have the count/mass “many/much” distinction. Pblm for this solution: how do children learn words for things that are NOT Spelke-objects?
— Jul 18, 2026 04:13AM
Larry
is on page 59 of 314
Arguments against associationism about word learning: errorless fast mapping, cultural variation, blind children do fine, chimps suck
— Jul 17, 2026 04:16AM
Larry
is on page 34 of 314
Fast mapping: applies to facts and words, not specific to word learning alone. It’s specific to unobservable properties of the datum
— Jul 17, 2026 02:50AM