Greedy or not, here I come: Language production under vocabulary constraints in humans and resource-rational models
This study investigates how humans produce language under limited vocabulary (down to 250 high-frequency words) and compares their behavior to greedy and globally optimal sampling algorithms using Sequential Monte Carlo inference with large language models. Humans generally resemble greedy sampling, but more skilled individuals backtrack and revise. In high-constraint settings, humans rely on semantically light words, a pattern also seen in both algorithms. Results have implications for resource-rational cognition, psycholinguistics, L2 communication, and language impairments.
[2605.15365] Greedy or not, here I come: Language production under vocabulary constraints in humans and resource-rational models
[Submitted on 14 May 2026]
Title:Greedy or not, here I come: Language production under vocabulary constraints in humans and resource-rational models
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Abstract:Communicating using only a limited vocabulary is a common but challenging cognitive phenomenon, requiring an ideal communicator to plan carefully to optimize for intelligibility while circumventing a constrained lexicon. In this work, we investigate how humans respond to a broad array of questions under variable vocabulary limitations, consisting of only 250 highly frequent words at the most restrictive. We provide theoretically motivated comparisons to greedy and globally optimal sampling algorithms using Sequential Monte Carlo inference with large language models. Humans generally resemble greedy sampling more than globally optimal sampling, though more skilled humans are more likely to backtrack and revise -- a non-greedy behavior. An observed human pattern of leaning on semantically light words in high-constraint settings falls out of both greedy and globally optimal sampling. We discuss the results and their broader implications for resource-rational cognition, psycholinguistics, L2 communication, and language impairments.
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Computation and Language (cs.CL)
Cite as: arXiv:2605.15365 [cs.CL]
(or arXiv:2605.15365v1 [cs.CL] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.15365
arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)
Submission history
From: Thomas Clark [view email] [v1] Thu, 14 May 2026 19:45:02 UTC (175 KB)
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