Accuracy Trumps Accent in Children's Endorsement of Object Labels

Past research provides evidence that children use at least 2 potentially competing strategies when choosing informants: they attend to informants' past accuracy and to their social identity (e.g., their status as native- vs. foreign-accented speakers). We explore how children reconcile these 2 strategies when they are put in conflict and whether children's response changes across development. In Experiment 1 (N = 61), 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children watched a native- and a foreign-accented English speaker label novel objects with novel names. All 3 age groups preferred the names provided by the native speaker. Next, 1 of the 2 speakers named familiar objects accurately, whereas the other speaker named them inaccurately. In a subsequent series of test trials, again with novel objects, 4- and 5-year-olds, but not 3-year-olds, were likely to endorse the names provided by the accurate speaker, regardless of her accent. In Experiment 2 (N=72) 4-year-olds first watched a native- and a foreign-accented speaker name familiar objects, but the relative accuracy of the 2 speakers varied across conditions (100% vs. 0% correct; 75% vs. 25% correct). Subsequently, the 2 speakers provided novel names for novel objects. In each condition, 4-year-olds endorsed the names provided by the more accurate speaker, regardless of her accent. We propose that during the preschool years, children increasingly rely on past reliability when selecting informants.