Does the public know what researchers know? Perceived task difficulty impacts adults’ intuitions about children’s early word learning

The present study examined adults’ understanding of children’s early word learning. Undergraduates, non-parents, parents, and Speech-Language Pathologists (N = 535, 74% female, 56% White) completed a survey with 11 word learning principles from the perspective of a preschooler. Questions tested key principles from early word learning research. For each question, participants were prompted to select an answer based on the perspective of a preschooler. Adults demonstrated aligned intuitions for all principles except those derived from domain-general theories, regardless of experience with language development (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 revealed that perceived difficulty of a task for a preschooler impacted adults’ reasoning about word learning processes. Experiment 3 ruled out level of confidence and interest as mechanisms to explain the results. These results highlight disconnects in knowledge between the cognitive development research community and the general public. Therefore, efforts must be made to communicate scientific findings to the broader non-academic community, emphasizing children’s ability to excel at word learning in the face of task difficulty. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41235-023-00493-y.