"Why Mama and Papa?" The Development of Social Labels

BROOKS-GuNN, JEANNE, and LEWIS, MICHAEL. Why Mama and Papa? The Development of Social Labels. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1979, 50, 1203-1206. Young verbal children's use of social labels, especially the labels mommy and daddy, was examined. 71 infants who ranged in age from 9 to 24 months of age were shown colored slides of their mothers and fathers and unfamiliar adults and children. The pictures of parents were much more likely to be labeled than the pictures of strangers. Infants were more likely to label pictures of their father than their mother and to use the label daddy than the label mommy across all conditions. Overgeneralization of the labels mommy and daddy did occur, with overgeneralization being more likely to occur with daddy than mommy. Interesting age trends were found, as generalization did not occur at 15 months of age, was quite prevalent at 18 months of age, and declined thereafter.