Writing Response #3:   Bayesian models of cognition

The following paper is required reading for the week of October 5th:
Perfors, A., Tenenbaum, J. B., Griffiths, T. L., Xu, F. (2011) A Tutorial Introduction to Bayesian Models of Cognitive Development, Cognition, 120, 302-321.

In advance of Wednesday's presentation and discussion of this reading, you should submit a response to the following question:

On page 307 of the Perfors et al. (2011) paper, the authors state, "The size principle explains how it is possible to make strong inferences based on very few examples." What is the size principle and how does it manifest itself in the behavior of Bayesian models? Describe one example of human learning in which a strong inference is derived from a small amount of observed data, and relate this learning behavior to the size principle.

You should write at most one page (500 words) in response to this question. In addition, you should also submit a question of your own, related to the reading. This writing assignment is due on Tuesday, October 6 at midnight and should be submitted to the 9.523 course site on stellar using your private account: https://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/9/fa15/9.523/. If you have a problem with submitting to stellar, please send your response to Ellen Hildreth at ehildreth@wellesley.edu.