Learning from others

2025-11-21

Rick Gilmore

Department of Psychology

Prelude

Today’s topics

  • Learning from others
    • General Readings: Gelman (2009); Sobel & Kushnir (2013)
    • Student Presentation M: Learning from testimony (Presenter: TBD; Discussant: Luke Debec)
      • Read: Harris, Koenig, Corriveau, & Jaswal (2018); Jaswal (2010)

Learning from others

What is learned?

  • How
    • Actions
  • What & why
    • Concepts

What are concepts?

mental representations that organize experience…

mental representations that correspond to categories of things in the world, such as dogs or chairs (Margolis 1994), I would broaden the set to include properties (green, happy), events or states (jumping, wet), individuals (Daddy, Lassie), and abstract ideas (goodness, liberty)…

– Gelman (2009)

What are concepts?

concepts are also embedded in larger knowledge structures (Gelman, 1996). Concepts therefore cannot be understood wholly as isolated components.

– Gelman (2009)

Where do concepts come from?

  • Children’s
    • Observations
    • Actions
    • Ideas

Where do concepts come from?

  • Children’s
    • Observations
    • Actions
    • Ideas
  • Others’
    • Speech
    • Actions

Recall

…we believe that humans are endowed with a small number of separable systems of core knowledge. New, flexible skills and belief systems build on these core foundations.

– Spelke & Kinzler (2007)

Core knowledge domains

  • Objects
  • Numbers
  • Agents
  • Social partners
  • Space
  • Shapes

Core knowledge domains

  • Objects
  • Numbers
  • Agents
  • Social partners
  • Space
  • Shapes

From perception to cognition 1

flowchart LR
  W[World] --->|perception| C(Child)
  C --->|action| W


flowchart LR
  W[World] --->|perception| C(Child)
  C --->|action| W
  C --->|cognition| C

From perception to cognition 2

flowchart LR
  E[Episode_1] ---> O[Object]
  O ---> S((Shape))
  O ---> L((Color))
  O ---> D((Distance))
  O ---> M((Motion))
  O ---> N((Sound))
  S ---> C(Child)
  D ---> C
  L ---> C
  M ---> C
  N ---> C
  C --->|perceives| P{Properties}
  P --->|stores| Y{Memory_1}

Store perceptual features

flowchart TD
  Y{Memory_1} --->|Shape is| S(("round"))
  Y --->|Color is| L(("red"))
  Y --->|Distance is| D(("within arms reach"))
  Y --->|Motion is| M(("rolling along floor"))
  Y --->|Sound made| N(("none"))

Next episode

flowchart LR
  E[Episode_2] ---> O[Object]
  O ---> S((Shape))
  O ---> L((Color))
  O ---> D((Distance))
  O ---> M((Motion))
  O ---> N((Sound))
  S ---> C(Child)
  D ---> C
  L ---> C
  M ---> C
  N ---> C
  C --->|perceives| P{Properties}
  P --->|stores| Y{Memory_2}

Are memories ==?

flowchart TD
  Y{Memory_1} --->|Shape is| S(("round"))
  Y --->|Color is| L(("red"))
  Y --->|Distance is| D(("within arms reach"))
  Y --->|Motion is| M(("rolling along floor"))
  Y --->|Sound made| N(("none"))
  Z{Memory_2} --->|Shape is| S
  Z --->|Color is| L
  Z --->|Distance is| E(("out of arms reach"))
  Z --->|Motion is| M(("rolling along floor"))
  Z --->|Sound made| N(("none"))

  • Do features match (mostly)
  • Some features vary more often than others

Create “conceptual” placeholder

flowchart LR
  C{{"Round-Red-Rollie-Thing"}} ---|is| Y{Memory_1}
  C ---|is| Z{Memory_2}
  Y <---> Z

Assign perceptual properties

flowchart TD
  C{{"Round-Red-Rollie-Thing"}} --->|Shape is| S(("round"))
  C --->|Color is| L(("red"))
  C --->|Distance is| D(("within or outside arms reach"))
  C --->|Motion is| M(("rolling along floor"))
  C --->|Sound made| N(("none"))

  • Distance can vary, but color, shape, sound do not
  • Motion?

From associative learning to semantic networks

Wikipedia contributors (2025b)

https://wordnet.princeton.edu/ (Fellbaum, 2005)

Where do concepts come from?

  • Children’s own actions & observations
  • Others’
    • Speech
    • Actions
    • Inferred mental states, including intentions

Next episode

flowchart LR
  E[Episode_3] ---> O[Object]
  E ---> P[Person]
  P --->|says 'ball' to| C(Child)
  O ---> C


flowchart LR
  P[Person] --->|says 'ball' to| C(Child)
  O[Object] ---> C
  C --->|hears| B{'ball'}
  C --->|perceives| D{Object properties}
  D --->|activates placeholder for| E{{"Round-Red-Rollie-Thing"}}

Heard word linked to placeholder

flowchart TD
  E{{"Round-Red-Rollie-Thing"}} --->|Name for is| B{'ball'}
  E --->|Color is| L(("red"))
  E --->|Distance is| D(("within or outside arms reach"))
  E --->|Motion is| M(("rolling along floor"))
  E --->|Sound made| N(("none"))
  E --->|Shape is| S(("round"))

Braginsky (n.d.)

Wordbank: Vocabulary norms

https://wordbank.stanford.edu/data/?name=vocab_norms

Wordbank: Item trajectories

https://wordbank.stanford.edu/data/?name=item_trajectories

Why word learning matters

  • Lexicalization
    • Process of labelling concepts with words
    • Map from non-linguistic \(\rightarrow\) linguistic
    • Word_1 \(\neq\) Word_2 \(\rightarrow\) Concept_1 \(\neg\) Concept_2
    • Implies “more stable, enduring, unchanging construal…” (Gelman, 2009, p. 121)
  • Contexts in which words are used, features of words, pragmatics of speaker

Where do concepts come from?

  • Children’s own actions & observations
  • Others’
    • Speech
      • What is said, by whom, to whom, where, when, & how, etc.
      • i.e., Testimony

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/testimony

https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/testimony

Testimony

flowchart TD
  T{{"Testimony"}} ---|is| S("Speech")
  B["Source"] ---|from| S
  B --- Y("Trustworthiness")
  S ---|in a| Z("Situation")
  Z ---|coincident with| P("Perceived physical properties")
  Z ---|coincident with| C("Cognitive state")
  P --- V("Visual")
  P --- D("Acoustic")
  C --- E("Attention")
  C --- F("Memories")
  C --- G("Concepts")

Covert and implicit categories

  • Non-linguistic examples?

Essentialism

  • Some categories have essential properties
  • Cultures vary in
    • what categories have essential features
    • degree of views about essentialism

Language cues to essentialism

  • Appearance vs. reality
  • Highlighting categorical differences
  • Broad descriptive statements about category
  • Generics (“Professors are absent-minded” vs. “My professor is scatter-brained.”)
  • Labeling in one context but not another

Where do concepts come from?

  • Children’s own actions & observations
    • and concepts
    • and questions
  • Others’
    • Speech
      • What is said, by whom, to whom, where, when, & how, etc.
      • i.e., Testimony

Example: Questions

  • On their weekly drive home, Sonny notices and comments on a big apartment building.
  • Mimi describes it as a place where big kids live that has many smaller houses inside.

That’s a big house where big kids live. (Sonny)

Yes, that’s a building where big kids live. There are small houses inside. (Mimi)

Questions 2

I want to see it. (Sonny)

We can’t go in there. (Mimi)

Why? (Sonny)

Only the people who live there and their friends can go inside. (Mimi)

Learning abstract concepts 1

  • At dinner time, Mommy puts grapes in the section of Sonny’s plate where they usually put noodles.

That’s not kind, Mommy. (Sonny)

  • Mommy suppresses laughter. Later tells Grandpa the story.

Learning abstract concepts 2

flowchart LR
  E(Ellie) --->|reads book about kindness to| S(Sonny)
  S --->|infers properties of| K{kindness}


flowchart LR
  Z(Zander) --->|pushes| S(Sonny)
  E(Ellie) --->|says Z wasn't kind| S
  S --->|infers properties of| N{not-kindness}
  N ---|is the opposite of| K{kindness}

Learning abstract concepts 3

flowchart TD
  S(Sonny) --->|infers properties of| N{not-kindness}
  N ---|involves| P[a person's behavior]
  N ---|is| E[surprising]
  N ---|evokes| H[negative feelings]

Learning abstract concepts 4

flowchart LR
  E(Ellie) --->|puts grapes in noodle place| S(Sonny)
  S --->|feels| H[negative feelings]
  S --->|perceives| F[surprise]
  H --- N{not-kindness}
  F --- N

Learning abstract concepts 5

flowchart LR
  N{not-kindness} --->|provides label for feelings for| S(Sonny)
  S(Sonny) --->|says| K(("that's not kind"))
  K --->|directed to| E(Ellie)

Coexistence of conceptual systems 1

Coexistence of conceptual systems 2

…bullshit is speech intended to persuade without regard for truth. The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn’t care whether what they say is true or false.

– Wikipedia contributors (2025a)

Learning from testimony

  • Speaker characteristics
    • Reliability
    • Knowledge about domain
    • Age
    • How say (pragmatics, grammatical features), not just what
    • Social characteristics (linguistic similarity)
  • Sobel & Kushnir (2013)

Psychological characteristics

  • When child knowledge uncertain, irrelevant speaker characteristics can influence
  • Biases to trust familiar adults

flowchart TD
  I[informant] ---|is-a| P(("person"))
  I ---|is| F(("familiar|unfamiliar"))
  I ---|has-a| A(("age"))
  I ---|has| D(("domain knowledge"))
  I ---|has been| R(("reliable"))
  I ---|speaks-with| C("confidence")
  I ---|speaks-with| E("familiar accent")

Wrap-up

Next time…

  • Conceptual development
    • General Readings: Siegler & Alibali (2021) Chapter 8; Mandler (1992)
    • Student Presentation N: Naive psychology (Presenter: Jiayi Fan : Discussant: Suzy Su)
      • Read: Onishi & Baillargeon (2005); Wellman (2012); Ding, Wellman, Wang, Fu, & Lee (2015)

Resources

About

This talk was produced using Quarto, using the RStudio Integrated Development Environment (IDE), version 2025.5.1.513.

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References

Braginsky, M. (n.d.). Wordbank. Retrieved November 19, 2025, from https://wordbank.stanford.edu/
Ding, X. P., Wellman, H. M., Wang, Y., Fu, G., & Lee, K. (2015). Theory-of-mind training causes honest young children to lie. Psychological Science, 26, 1812–1821. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615604628
Fellbaum, C. (2005). WordNet and wordnets. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language and linguistics (Second Edition, pp. 665–670). Oxford: Elsevier. Retrieved from http://wordnet.princeton.edu/
Gelman, S. A. (2009). Learning from others: Children’s construction of concepts. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 115–140. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093659
Harris, P. L., Koenig, M. A., Corriveau, K. H., & Jaswal, V. K. (2018). Cognitive foundations of learning from testimony. Annual Review of Psychology, 69, 251–273. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011710
Jaswal, V. K. (2010). Believing what you’re told: Young children’s trust in unexpected testimony about the physical world. Cognitive Psychology, 61, 248–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2010.06.002
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Onishi, K. H., & Baillargeon, R. (2005). Do 15-month-old infants understand false beliefs? Science (New York, N.Y.), 308, 255–258. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1107621
Siegler, R., & Alibali, M. (2021). Children’s Thinking (5th ed.). Pearson.
Sobel, D. M., & Kushnir, T. (2013). Knowledge matters: How children evaluate the reliability of testimony as a process of rational inference. Psychological Review, 120, 779–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034191
Spelke, E. S., & Kinzler, K. D. (2007). Core knowledge. Developmental Science, 10, 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00569.x
Wellman, H. M. (2012). Theory of mind: Better methods, clearer findings, more development. The European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 313–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2012.680297
Wikipedia contributors. (2025a, September 4). On bullshit. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit
Wikipedia contributors. (2025b, October 3). Semantic network. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_network