Two-year-old Koreans heard novel physical entities named. They were then asked to extend the names to new entities that preserved either shape or material of the original entities. When the entities were solid objects, children extended the words on the basis of shape, but this shape preference was graded depending on shape complexity of the objects. Interestingly, however, even when the entities were made from non-solid substances, the tendency to respect shape was also graded depending on the complexity of the entities, suggesting that ontological distinction between solid objects and non-rigid substances and perceptual complexity interact in interpreting nouns for novel entities.
展开▼
