A-not-B Errors: Testing the Limits of Natural Pedagogy Theory

Gergely and Csibra’s theory, known as “natural pedagogy theory”, is meant to explain how infants fast-learn generic knowledge from adults. In this paper, my goal is to assess the explanatory import of this theory in a particular case, namely the phenomena known as “A-not-B errors”. I first propose a clarification of natural pedagogy theory’s fundamental hypotheses. Then, I describe Topál et al.’s (Science, 321, 1831–1834, 2008) experiments, which consist in applying natural pedagogy theory’s framework to the A-not-B errors. Finally, I show that natural pedagogy theory, in its actual stage of development, does not suffice to choose between various interpretations of Topál et al.’s experimental results.

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