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Resource conservation as a basis for the mutual exclusivity effect in children's word learning

Northwestern University

Pamela Blewitt

Villanova University

The tendency of children to apply a novel label to a novel object rather than to a familiar one, or to resist applying multiple labels to the same object, has often been interpreted as evidence of a ‘mutual exclusivity’ constraint on word learning. We offer evidence that the mutual exclusivity effect is not specific to word learning but is rooted in a tendency to conserve general cognitive resources. In the current research, 3-year-olds learned and produced two different novel labels for the same object when doing so allowed them to maximize their reward. However, when producing multiple labels afforded no apparent benefit, children tended to produce a single label. An identical pattern of responses was seen in a parallel non-word learning task. These results suggest that, to some extent, conservation of cognitive resources may play a role in the mutual exclusivity effect seen in word learning.

Key Words: Cognitive development • cognitive resources • language development • mutual exclusivity • word learning

First Language, Vol. 27, No. 1, 5-28 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0142723707067544


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