Is children’s referential informativity associated with their visual or linguistic abilities?

4-year-old and 7-year-old children took part in a referential communication task. Their referring expressions were measured for informativity, and their eye movements were analysed to investigate whether fixations to a contrast object predict referential informativity. Performance on a battery of standardised tests was also measured. In line with previous work, we found a developmental trajectory towards greater informativity as children mature. The eye tracking data suggest that even though 4-year-olds engage in comparison activity to a similar extent as 7-year-olds and adults, their scanning behaviour is not linked to their ensuing referential informativity. Like adults, older children appear to make greater use of information gleaned from their visual scanning, supported by their more advanced linguistic skills. Results support a processing-based (cf. pragmatic-based) account of referential informativity.