How young children integrate information sources to infer the meaning of words

Before formal education, children acquire a large vocabulary. This involves integrating various information sources. A developmental model using Bayesian inference was created to understand this integration, accurately predicting 2–5-year-olds' word learning across experimental conditions. Model comparison showed that development stems from increased sensitivity to individual information sources, not changes in integration ability. This provides a developmental theory of information integration during language learning and demonstrates how formal models can quantitatively test competing theories.

Manuel Bohn, Michael Henry Tessler, Megan Merrick, Michael C. Frank