Whole object assumption states that words refer to what?

• A. Actions
• B. Whole objects
• C. Colors
• D. Sounds

Answer: (B)

The whole object assumption is a word-learning bias where a new word is mapped to the entire object rather than to a part, a color, an action, or a sound. This is why the best answer is the whole object: when children encounter a novel label, they tend to treat it as referring to the object as a single unit, not to its features or relations. This helps learners stay consistent across different contexts; for example, if they see a dog and a ball and hear a new word, they’re more likely to map that word to the whole dog rather than just the color of the fur, a tail, or the barking action. The other options describe attributes or events rather than the object as a whole, which is why they don’t fit the intention of this bias.