Markman's Assumptions: Getting at Mechanisms

1. What is the child's explicit task? (Does the child have an explicit task?)
   • Figure out what object, property, or relation in the context is referred to by each of the words.
   • Learn the "meaning" of a novel word. What is the "meaning" of a word for Markman? What else could "meaning" be?
   • Learn how to extend the "meaning" of a familiar word.
   • Learn to associate a form with a sensory/perceptual input in such a way that later, novel inputs "activate" the appropriate form.
   • Learn to associate a form with a sensory/perceptual input in such a way that later instances of the form either "activate" an appropriate internal "representation" of a possible referent or allow the child to pick out a referent from among several candidates in the environment.
   • Learn about correlations between various kinds of sensory inputs.
   • Learn to behave in a way that results in the most rewards.

2. What does it take to flesh out each of the assumptions?
   • Whole-object: Children assume that a novel label is likely to refer to the whole object and not to its parts, substance, or other properties.
     • "assume"
     • "novel"
     • "label"
     • "likely"
     • "refer to"
     • "whole object"
     • "parts"
     • "substance"
     • "properties"
   • Taxonomic: Children constrain the possible meanings of words to refer to objects of like kind.
     • "meanings"
     • "kind"
     • "like"
   • Mutual exclusivity: Children expect that each object will have only one label.
     • "have ... label"