Does the public know what researchers know? Perceived task difficulty impacts adults' intuitions about children's early word learning.

ABSTRACT: The present study examined adults' understanding of children's early word learning. Undergraduates, non-parents, parents, and Speech-Language Pathologists (N = 535, 74% female, 56% White) completed a survey with 11 word learning principles from the perspective of a preschooler. Questions tested key principles from early word learning research. For each question, participants were prompted to select an answer based on the perspective of a preschooler. Adults demonstrated aligned intuitions for all principles except those derived from domain-general theories, regardless of experience with language development (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 revealed that perceived difficulty of a task for a preschooler impacted adults' reasoning about word learning processes. Experiment 3 ruled out level of con

SUBMITTER: Knabe ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10366060 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature