Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

cognitive development, fast mapping, language acquisition, mental process, preschool children

Disciplines

Developmental Psychology

Abstract

In a classic study by Carey and Bartlett (1978), preschool children were presented with two trays and prompted to: “Bring me the chromium tray, not the blue one. The chromium one.” One week later, a new task context was used to test what children thought ‘chromium’ refers to (e.g., “Show me the chromium one”). Results show that 3- and 4-year-olds were able to learn the meaning of ‘chromium’ even after a single exposure. This phenomenon was termed ‘fast mapping’. It captures the mental process of narrowing down the meaning of a word during a casual experience. In the current essay, we briefly summarize the research on this phenomenon and offer a perspective on its impact within the field of cognitive development.

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