In an experiment, two-year-old boys and their fathers made pie dough together using rolling pins and other utensils. Each father-son pair used a rolling pin that was distinctively different from those used by the other father-son pairs, and each father repeated the phrase “rolling pin” each time his son used it. But several rolling pins, each child picked only the one that he had used.
What this question is testing
Setup
Each father-son pair used a distinctively different rolling pin while the dad repeated the words "rolling pin." So each child learned the words while looking at their own specific pin.
Result
Asked to point to all rolling pins, each child picked only his own. None of them recognized the others as rolling pins.
Evaluate
This means each child thought "rolling pin" referred to his specific pin — not to rolling pins in general. And since every child had a different pin, every child had a different referent in mind.
Imagine each kid had been pointed at a different teddy bear while the parent said "teddy." Then ask the group to point out all teddies, and each kid points only at his own. They do not share an understanding of what "teddy" means as a category — each child has linked the word to one specific object.
Goal
Find the answer that captures this: no two children meant the same object by "rolling pin."
Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.