Learning Concepts: A Learning-Theoretic Solution to the Complex-First Paradox.

Children acquire complex concepts like dog earlier than simple concepts like brown , even though our best neuroscientific theories suggest that learning the former is harder than learning the latter and, thus, should take more time (Markus Werning). This is the complex-first paradox. We present a no...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Philosophy of Science Vol. 87; no. 1; pp. 135 - 152
Autores principales: Poth, Nina L., Brössel, Peter
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Cambridge University Press Jan2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Children acquire complex concepts like dog earlier than simple concepts like brown , even though our best neuroscientific theories suggest that learning the former is harder than learning the latter and, thus, should take more time (Markus Werning). This is the complex-first paradox. We present a novel solution to the complex-first paradox. Our solution builds on a generalization of Fei Xu and Joshua B. Tenenbaum's Bayesian model of word learning. By focusing on a rational theory of concept learning, we show that it is easier to infer the meaning of complex concepts than that of simple concepts.