Work

Probabilistic cue combination: less is more

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Learning about the structure of the world requires learning probabilistic relationships: rules in which cues do not predict outcomes with certainty. However, in some cases, the ability to track probabilistic relationships is a handicap, leading adults to perform non-normatively in prediction tasks. For example, in the dilution effect, predictions made from the combination of two cues of different strengths are less accurate than those made from the stronger cue alone. Here we show that dilution is an adult problem; 11-month-old infants combine strong and weak predictors normatively. These results extend and add support for the less is more hypothesis: limited cognitive resources can lead children to represent probabilistic information differently from adults, and this difference in representation can have important downstream consequences for prediction.

Source: Developmental Science

DOI: 10.1111/desc.12011

Authors: Daniel Yurovsky, Ty W. Boyer, Linda B. Smith, Chen Yu

Institutions: Stanford University, Georgia Southern University, Indiana University

Language: English

Topic: Child and Animal Learning Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: Cross-Situational statistical word learning:behaviors, mechanisms and constraints, Training Program in Integrative Developmental Process