Two-year-olds' expectation that lexical gaps will be filled

Abstract

Children tend to select unfamiliar rather than familiar kinds as the referents of novel names. This tendency has been hypothesized by some to derive from an expectation that unfamiliar kinds will be labelled. In Study 1, two-year-olds (N = 16) showed little evidence of such an expectation when they had to decide whether a visible picture of an unfamiliar object or a depicted object concealed in a box was the referent of a novel name. They tended to check the box before making a selection. This test was preceded by two tasks, the first requiring the same type of decision about familiar names and the second highlighting the status of unfamiliar objects as ‘new kinds of things’. In Study 2 (N = 16), the latter task was replaced by one in which toddlers had to decide whether unfamiliar kinds were more likely than familiar kinds to be the referents of novel names. After this experience, participants showed a moderately strong expectation that unfamiliar kinds would be labelled. In Study 3 (N = 60) this finding was replicated. In two other conditions, the task that preceded the test was replaced with direct teaching of novel names for unfamiliar kinds. These groups showed little expectation that lexical gaps would be filled. Although results are compatible with a restricted form of the lexical gap filling hypothesis, they do not support the broad form that has been advanced by some theorists.