Human infants, like immature members of any species, must be highly selective in sampling information from their environment to learn efficiently. Failure would waste precious computational resources on material that is already known (too simple) or unknowable complex). In two experiments with 7- and 8-month-olds, we measure infants’ visual attention sequences events varying complexity, as determined by an ideal learner model. Infants’ probability looking away was greatest stimulus items...

Models can convey biases and false information to users.

Infants must learn about many cognitive domains (e.g., language, music) from auditory statistics, yet capacity limits on their resources restrict the quantity that they can encode. Previous research has established infants attend to only a subset of available acoustic input. Yet few previous studies have directly examined infant attention, and none tested theorized mechanisms attentional selection based stimulus complexity. This work utilizes model‐based behavioral methods were recently...

Objectives To investigate possible short and long term side effects of epidural analgesia, compared with non‐epidural analgesia for pain relief in labour. Design Randomised controlled study, follow up by questionnaire. Analysis intention‐to‐treat. Setting Busy maternity unit within a district general hospital England. Participants Three hundred sixty nine primigravid women labour were included (randomised allocation: n = 184 , 185 ). Main outcome measures Backache at three twelve months...

A critical part of infants’ ability to acquire any language involves segmenting continuous speech input into discrete word-forms. Certain properties words could provide infants with reliable cues word boundaries. Here we investigate the potential utility vowel harmony (VH), a phonological property whereby vowels within systematically exhibit similarity (“harmony”) for some aspect way they are pronounced. We present evidence that no experience VH in their native nevertheless actively use...

Many social and legal conflicts hinge on semantic disagreements. Understanding the origins implications of these disagreements necessitates novel methods for identifying quantifying variation in cognition between individuals. We collected conceptual similarity ratings feature judgements from a variety words two domains. analyzed this data using non-parametric clustering scheme, as well an ecological statistical estimator, order to infer number different variants common concepts that exist...

Abstract The ability to infer the referential intentions of speakers is a crucial part learning language. Previous research has uncovered various contextual and social cues that children may use do this. Here we provide first evidence also speech disfluencies speaker intention. Disfluencies (e.g. filled pauses ‘ uh ’ um ’) occur in predictable locations, such as before infrequent or discourse‐new words. We conducted an eye‐tracking study investigate whether young can make this distributional...

We apply a new quantitative method for investigating how children's exploration changes across age in order to gain insight into unfolds over the course of human life from life-history perspective. In this study, different facets exploratory play were quantified using novel touchscreen environment large sample and wide range children USA ( n = 105, ages 1 year 10 months 12 years 2 months). contrast with previous theories that have suggested humans transition more less throughout maturation,...

Objective To determine the clinical safety and efficacy of alfaxalone in bitches undergoing caesarean section ( CS ) their puppies when it is administered for induction anaesthesia followed by maintenance with isoflurane oxygen conjunction perioperative pharmaceuticals. Design A multicentre, randomised, positive‐controlled study. Methods total 74 were enrolled study 48/74 (65%) 26/74 (35%) receiving propofol, respectively, anaesthesia. Bitches examined prior to monitored during induction,...

Studies of infant looking times over the past 50 years have provided profound insights about cognitive development, but their dependent measures and analytic techniques are quite limited. In context infants' attention to discrete sequential events, we show how a Bayesian data analysis approach can be combined with rational model create rich framework for times. We formalize (i) statistical learning model, (ii) parametric linking between model's beliefs behavior, (iii) that infers parameters...

Cooperation often results in a final material resource that must be shared, but deciding how to distribute is not straightforward. A distribution could count as fair if all members receive an equal reward (egalitarian distributions), or each member's proportional their merit (merit-based distributions). Here, we propose the acquisition of numerical concepts influences reason about fairness. We explore this possibility Tsimane', farming-foraging group who live Bolivian rainforest. The...

Abstract Objectives We assessed associations between child stunting, recovery, and faltering with schooling human capital skills in a native Amazonian society of horticulturalists‐foragers (Tsimane'). Methods used cross‐sectional data (2008) from 1262 children aged 6 to 16 years 53 villages assess contemporaneous three height categories: stunted (height‐for‐age Z score, HAZ<–2), moderately (–2 ≤ HAZ≤–1), nonstunted (HAZ>–1), categories capital: completed grades schooling, test‐based...

How do children allocate their attention? There is too much information in the world to encode it all, so must pick and choose. they organize sampling make most of learning opportunities that surround them? Previous work shows infants actively seek intermediately predictable information. Here we employ eye-tracking computational modeling examine impact stimulus predictability across early childhood (ages 3-6 years, n = 72, predominantly Non-Hispanic White, middle- upper-middle-income), by...

Normative learning theories dictate that we should preferentially attend to informative sources, but only up the point our limited systems can process their content. Humans, including infants, show this predicted strategic deployment of attention. Here, demonstrate rhesus monkeys, much like humans, events moderate surprisingness over both more and less surprising events. They do in absence any specific goal or contingent reward, indicating behavioural pattern is spontaneous. We suggest...

One of the greatest challenges developmental psychology is figuring out what children are thinking. This particularly difficult in early childhood, for who prelinguistic or just beginning to speak their first words. In this stage, children's responses commonly measured by presenting young with a limited choice between one small number options (e.g., "Do you want X Y?"). A tendency choose response these tasks may be taken as an indication child's preference understanding. Adults' known...