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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 16, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
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Published on: April 19, 2017

Probabilistic inference in human infants.

Stephanie Denison1, Fei Xu

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. smdeniso@berkeley.edu

Advances in Child Development and Behavior
|December 5, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Infants demonstrate early-emerging intuitive statistical abilities, making probabilistic inferences about populations from samples. These foundational skills suggest innate reasoning capacities, even without conscious awareness.

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Last Updated: May 16, 2026

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Developmental Psychology
  • Bayesian Inference in Early Learning

Background:

  • Research explores if human learners, from infancy, reason using Bayesian inference.
  • Identifying early inference mechanisms is crucial for understanding cognitive development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review empirical evidence for infants' rudimentary probabilistic inference abilities.
  • To examine if infants function as 'intuitive statisticians'.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of recent studies using looking-time and choice tasks.
  • Investigation of infant responses under various sampling conditions.
  • Assessment of prior domain knowledge integration in probability calculations.

Main Results:

  • Empirical evidence supports infants' capacity for basic probabilistic inferences.
  • Infants infer population characteristics from sample data.
  • These abilities emerge early and are not consciously accessible.

Conclusions:

  • Infants possess an intuitive, early-emerging notion of probability.
  • Foundational statistical reasoning appears innate, predating conscious reflection.