Twelve-month-olds disambiguate new words using mutual-exclusivity inferences

Representing objects in terms of their kinds enables inferences based on the long-term knowledge made available through kind concepts. For example, children readily use lexical linked to familiar concepts disambiguate new words (e.g., “find toma”): they exclude members falling under labels a ball) as potential referents and link unfamiliar funnel), phenomenon dubbed ‘mutual exclusivity’. Younger infants' failure mutual exclusivity tasks has been commonly interpreted limitation early word-learning or inferential abilities. Here, we investigated an alternative explanation, according which infants do not spontaneously represent concepts, hence lacking access information necessary for rejecting them novel labels. Building findings about conceptual development communication, hypothesized that nonverbal communication could prompt set up kind-based representations which, turn, would promote inferences. This hypothesis was tested looking-while-listening task involving word disambiguation. Twelve-month-olds saw pairs objects, one unfamiliar, heard words. Across two experiments providing cross-lab replication different languages, successfully disambiguated when object had pointed at before labeling, but it highlighted non-communicative manner (Experiment 1) all 2). Nonverbal induced recruit failed its absence that, once activated, supported mutual-exclusivity Developmental changes children's appreciation communicative contexts may modulate expression learning competences.