Overview

• The theoretical paper, published in Psychological Review (2025) with DOI 10.1037/rev0000580, argues that children’s acquisition errors do not drive lasting linguistic change.
• The authors contend that early mistakes rarely persist in communities because children typically correct them and lack the social authority others emulate.
• Adolescents and adults are proposed as the primary agents of change due to their innovation in real interactions and their greater social influence.
• The work functions as a synthesis and reframing rather than a definitive empirical overturning, urging a shift in research priorities toward social, historical, and interactional mechanisms.
• Institutional summaries tied to the Max Planck Institute underpinned coverage by outlets including Phys.org, Neuroscience News, and EurekAlert.