taxonomic assumption

in language development, the tendency of children to suppose that a novel word that refers to one thing also refers to similar things (rather than thematically related things). For example, a child will infer that if the word dog refers to a collie it can also refer to a poodle, but not to a thematic related thing, such as a dog bone. Compare mutual exclusivity assumption; whole object assumption.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

axiom

n. in logic and philosophy, a universally accepted proposition that is not capable of proof or disproof. An axiom can be used as the starting point for a chain of deductive reasoning. Also called postulate. [from Greek axioma, “worthy thing”] —axiomatic adj.