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Rational statistical inference: A critical component for word learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2002

Fei Xu
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115 fxu@neu.edu http://www.psych.neu.edu/People/faculty.shtml
Joshua B. Tenenbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 jbt@psych.stanford.edu http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~jbt/

Abstract

In order to account for how children can generalize words beyond a very limited set of labeled examples, Bloom's proposal of word learning requires two extensions: a better understanding of the “general learning and memory abilities” involved, and a principled framework for integrating multiple conflicting constraints on word meaning. We propose a framework based on Bayesian statistical inference that meets both of those needs.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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