TY - JOUR
T1 - The dynamic nature of knowledge
T2 - Insights from a dynamic field model of children's novel noun generalization
AU - Samuelson, Larissa K.
AU - Schutte, Anne R.
AU - Horst, Jessica S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Preparation of this manuscript was supported by NICHD Grant No. 5 R01 HD045713 to the first author. Portions of the data were presented at the 2006 meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. The authors wish to thank John Spencer, Jodie Plumert, and Linda Smith for thoughtful discussions of this work and helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. We also thank Ryan Brink, Brandi Dobbertin, and the members of the Language and Category Development Lab for assistance with data collection. Finally we thank the parents and children who participated in the studies, without whom this work would not be possible. Jessica Horst is now at the Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK.
PY - 2009/3
Y1 - 2009/3
N2 - This paper examines the tie between knowledge and behavior in a noun generalization context. An experiment directly comparing noun generalizations of children at the same point in development in forced-choice and yes/no tasks reveals task-specific differences in the way children's knowledge of nominal categories is brought to bear in a moment. To understand the cognitive system that produced these differences, the real-time decision processes in these tasks were instantiated in a dynamic field model. The model captures both qualitative and quantitative differences in performance across tasks and reveals constraints on the nature of children's accumulated knowledge. Additional simulations of developmental change in the yes/no task between 2 and 4 years of age illustrate how changes in children's representations translate into developmental changes in behavior. Together, the empirical data and model demonstrate the dynamic nature of knowledge and are consistent with the perspective that knowledge cannot be separated from the task-specific processes that create behavior in the moment.
AB - This paper examines the tie between knowledge and behavior in a noun generalization context. An experiment directly comparing noun generalizations of children at the same point in development in forced-choice and yes/no tasks reveals task-specific differences in the way children's knowledge of nominal categories is brought to bear in a moment. To understand the cognitive system that produced these differences, the real-time decision processes in these tasks were instantiated in a dynamic field model. The model captures both qualitative and quantitative differences in performance across tasks and reveals constraints on the nature of children's accumulated knowledge. Additional simulations of developmental change in the yes/no task between 2 and 4 years of age illustrate how changes in children's representations translate into developmental changes in behavior. Together, the empirical data and model demonstrate the dynamic nature of knowledge and are consistent with the perspective that knowledge cannot be separated from the task-specific processes that create behavior in the moment.
KW - Competence/performance
KW - Computational modeling
KW - Developmental processes
KW - Word learning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=59649085963&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=59649085963&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.10.017
DO - 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.10.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 19131050
AN - SCOPUS:59649085963
SN - 0010-0277
VL - 110
SP - 322
EP - 345
JO - Cognition
JF - Cognition
IS - 3
ER -