Cognitive Development 32 (2014) 1–11 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cognitive Development Learning words from pictures: 15- and 17-month-old infants appreciate the referential and symbolic links among words, pictures, and objects  Kathleen Geraghty a,*,1 , Sandra R. Waxman a,1 , Susan A. Gelman b a Northwestern University, United States b University of Michigan, United States a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Infants Word learning Symbolic development Conceptual development Developmental theories Representation Learning from pictures a b s t r a c t This experiment was designed to clarify the referential status of infants’ newly learned words. We introduced 15- and 17-month- olds to a novel noun, presented in conjunction with pictures of two whisks that differed in color (one purple, one orange). We asked whether infants would extend this newly learned noun to other members of the same kind (other whisks), one differing only in color (a picture of a silver whisk) and another differing in both color and representational medium (a real three-dimensional sil- ver whisk). Fifteen- and 17-month-olds’ interpretation of the novel noun was not tethered tightly to the perceptual features with which the word had previously been paired. Instead, their interpretation was sufficiently abstract to include a new member of the same object category, although it differed in color and representational medium (a real silver whisk). Thus, by 15 months, infants appreci- ate the referential status of words and extend their meaning flexibly from pictures to objects. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.  This research is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation. * Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, United States. Tel.: +1 847 491 3316. E-mail address: k-geraghty@u.northwestern.edu (K. Geraghty). 1 Research conducted by Kathleen Geraghty and Sandra R. Waxman at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2014.04.003 0885-2014/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.