mutual exclusivity assumption

in language development, the tendency of children to suppose that an object has only one category label. If a child already knows a label for a whole object and hears a novel label applied, the assumption of mutual exclusivity will block the possibility that the novel label refers to the whole object. The child will then consider other possible referents of the novel label, such as a part of the object. Compare taxonomic assumption; whole object assumption.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

ordinate

n. the vertical coordinate in a graph or data plot; that is, the y-axis. See also abscissa.