Balancing generalization and lexical conservatism: An artificial language study with child learners

► An artificial language learning experiment with 6 year olds. ► Probes the balance between generalization and learning lexical exceptions. ► Learning shows sensitivity to both lexically based and higher level statistics. ► Data mirror previous learning experiment with adults (Wonnacott et al. 2008). ► Data consistent with an approach which models generalization as rational inference.