At dinner, three-year-old Matias overhears his father tell the waitress that his tasty hamburger was "superb." Matias has never heard this word before. The next day Matias tells his mother that the grilled-cheese sandwich she made him for lunch was superb. Which of the following terms represents the process by which Matias likely learned the word "superb"?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Matias likely learned the word "superb" through the process of fast mapping, which involves quickly learning the meaning of a new word after hearing it used in context. Matias heard his father use the word to describe his hamburger and was able to apply it to his grilled-cheese sandwich the next day. Underextension and overextension refer to errors in vocabulary acquisition, while telegraphic speech refers to a stage of language development in which children use short, simplified sentences without grammatical markers.

At Dinner, Three-Year-Old Matias Overhears His Father Tell the Waitress