Graham, SusanDubois, DianeBaker, Rachel K.2020-04-232020-04-231998-06Graham, S. A., Poulin-Dubois, D., & Baker, R. K. (1998). Infants' disambiguation of novel object words. "First Language", 18 (1998), 149-64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0142723798018053021802-0149http://hdl.handle.net/1880/111877https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/43620When preschool-aged children are presented with two objects, one familiar and one unfamiliar, and asked for the referent of a novel word, they will consistently map the novel word to the novel object, a tendency called the disambiguation effect. In this study, we examined the relation between vocabulary size and the disambiguation response tendency during late infancy. Sixteen- to 22-month-old infants were presented with a novel object along with two familiar objects and asked to choose the referents of familiar and novel words. The infants who consistently chose the novel object in the presence of a novel word had significantly higher productive vocabularies than those who did not. These two groups, however, did not differ in age or on familiar word trials. These results suggest that emergence of the disambiguation effect in late infancy is related to productive vocabulary size rather than age.engUnless otherwise indicated, this material is protected by copyright and has been made available with authorization from the copyright owner. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0journal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1177/014272379801805302