Referential Extension in Early Language Development

GRUENDEL, JANICE M. Referential Extension in Early Language Development. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 1567-1576. 2 questions were investigated: the nature of intensional criteria and developmental characteristics of referential extension. Primary data consisted of 28 hours of videotaped mother-child interaction from which a contextual history of the early word use of 2 children during the first year of language was compiled. Findings include: (1) identification of word application based on form alone, action alone, and a function to form progression; (2) early word use designating specific referents as well as classes and categories of referents; (3) both differentiation and generalization in extension; and (4) a potential influence for parental language and action in the child's course of language extension.