Two-Year-Olds’ Eye Movements Reflect Confidence in Their Understanding of Words

Abstract

We studied the fundamental issue of whether children evaluate the reliability of their language interpretation, that is, their confidence in understanding words. In two experiments, 2-year-olds (Experiment 1: N = 50; Experiment 2: N = 60) saw two objects and heard one of them being named; both objects were then hidden behind screens and children were asked to look toward the named object, which was eventually revealed. When children knew the label used, they showed increased postdecision persistence after a correct compared with an incorrect anticipatory look, a marker of confidence in word comprehension (Experiment 1). When interacting with an unreliable speaker, children showed accurate word comprehension but reduced confidence in the accuracy of their own choice, indicating that children’s confidence estimates are influenced by social information (Experiment 2). Thus, by the age of 2 years, children can estimate their confidence during language comprehension, long before they can talk about their linguistic skills.

Children’s subjective uncertainty-driven sampling behaviour

“…On the other hand, previous studies suggest that children have quite sophisticated metalinguistic skills and already at 2 years of age, appear to estimate their linguistic confidence, i.e. their looking behaviour is different when they are confident they know the meaning of a word compared with when they are not [ 38 ]. General metacognitive abilities develop further during pre-school years.…”