In terms of hyponymy, the child will almost always use the “middle”-level term in a hyponymous set such as animal – dog – poodle. It would seem more logical to learn the most general term (animal), but all evidence indicates that children first use dog with an overextended meaning close to the meaning of “animal.” This may be connected to a similar tendency in adults, when talking to young children, to refer to flowers (not the more general plants, or the more specific tulips).