@article { , title = {Mutual exclusivity and phonological novelty constrain word learning at 16 months}, abstract = {Studies report that infants as young as 1 ; 3 to 1 ; 5 will seek out a novel object in response to hearing a novel label (e.g. Halberda, 2003; Markman, Wasow \& Hansen, 2003). This behaviour is commonly known as the 'mutual exclusivity' response (Markman, 1989; 1990). However, evidence for mutual exclusivity does not imply that the infant has associated a novel label with a novel object. We used an intermodal preferential looking task to investigate whether infants aged 1 ; 4 could use mutual exclusivity to guide their association of novel labels with novel objects. The results show that infants can successfully map a novel label onto a novel object, provided that the novel label has no familiar phonological neighbours. Therefore, as early as 1 ; 4, infants can use mutual exclusivity to form novel word-object associations, although this process is constrained by the phonological novelty of a label.}, doi = {10.1017/S0305000910000401}, eissn = {1469-7602}, issn = {0305-0009}, issue = {5}, note = {Batch 006. Output ID 40365.}, pages = {933-950}, publicationstatus = {Published}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, url = {https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/409741}, volume = {38}, keyword = {Health and Health Inequalities, Linguistics and Language, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, General Psychology, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Language and Linguistics}, year = {2011}, author = {Mather, Emily and Plunkett, Kim} }