Toddler robots help solve how children learn
C
hildren learn new words using the same method as robots,
according to psychologists. This suggests that early lear-
ning is based not on conscious thought but on an automatic abi-
lity to associate objects which enables babies to quickly make
sense of their environment.
Dr Katie Twomey from Lancaster University, with Dr Jessica
Horst from Sussex University, Dr Anthony Morse and Professor
Angelo Cangelosi from Plymouth wanted to find out how young
children learn new words for the first time. They programmed
a humanoid robot called iCub designed to have similar propor-
tions to a three year old child, using simple software which ena-
bled the robot to hear words through a microphone and see
with a camera. They trained it to point at new objects to identify
them in order to solve the mystery of how young children learn
new words.
Dr Twomey said: “We know that two-year-old children can work
out the meaning of a new word based on words they already
know. That is, our toddler can work out that the new word “gi-
raffe” refers to a new toy, when they can also see two others,
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called “duck” and “rabbit.” “
It is thought that toddlers achieve this through a strategy known
as “mutual exclusivity” where they use a process of elimination
to work out that because the brown toy is called “rabbit,” and the
yellow toy is called “duck,” then the orange toy must be “giraffe.”
What the researchers found is that the robot learned in exactly
the same way when shown several familiar toys and one brand
new toy.
Dr Twomey said: “This new study shows that mutual exclusivity
behaviour can be achieved with a very simple “brain” that just
learns associations between words and objects. In fact, intelli-
gent as iCub seems, it actually can’t say to itself “I know that
the brown toy is a rabbit, and I know that that the yellow toy is
a duck, so this new toy must be giraffe,” because its software
is too simple.
“This suggests that at least some aspects of early learning are
based on an astonishingly powerful association making ability
which allows babies and toddlers to rapidly absorb information
from the very complicated learning environment.”