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Abstract
<p class="first" id="P1">In a series of experiments, we examined 3- to 8-year-old
children’s (N = 223) and
adults’ (N = 32) use of two properties of testimony to estimate a speaker’s knowledge:
generality and verifiability. Participants were presented with a “Generic speaker”
who made a series of 4 general claims about “pangolins” (a novel animal kind), and
a “Specific speaker” who made a series of 4 specific claims about “this pangolin”
as an individual. To investigate the role of verifiability, we systematically varied
whether the claim referred to a perceptually-obvious feature visible in a picture
(e.g., “has a pointy nose”) or a non-evident feature that was not visible (e.g., “sleeps
in a hollow tree”). Three main findings emerged: (1) Young children showed a pronounced
reliance on verifiability that decreased with age. Three-year-old children were especially
prone to credit knowledge to speakers who made verifiable claims, whereas 7- to 8-year-olds
and adults credited knowledge to generic speakers regardless of whether the claims
were verifiable; (2) Children’s attributions of knowledge to generic speakers was
not detectable until age 5, and only when those claims were also verifiable; (3) Children
often generalized speakers’ knowledge outside of the pangolin domain, indicating a
belief that a person’s knowledge about pangolins likely extends to new facts. Findings
indicate that young children may be inclined to doubt speakers who make claims they
cannot verify themselves, as well as a developmentally
<i>increasing</i> appreciation for speakers who make general claims.
</p>