Getting it right by getting it wrong: when learners change languages. Kam, C. L H. & Newport, E. L Cogn Psychol, 59(1):30-66, 2009.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
When natural language input contains grammatical forms that are used probabilistically and inconsistently, learners will sometimes reproduce the inconsistencies; but sometimes they will instead regularize the use of these forms, introducing consistency in the language that was not present in the input. In this paper we ask what produces such regularization. We conducted three artificial language experiments, varying the use of determiners in the types of inconsistency with which they are used, and also comparing adult and child learners. In Experiment 1 we presented adult learners with scattered inconsistency - the use of multiple determiners varying in frequency in the same context - and found that adults will reproduce these inconsistencies at low levels of scatter, but at very high levels of scatter will regularize the determiner system, producing the most frequent determiner form almost all the time. In Experiment 2 we showed that this is not merely the result of frequency: when determiners are used with low frequencies but in consistent contexts, adults will learn all of the determiners veridically. In Experiment 3 we compared adult and child learners, finding that children will almost always regularize inconsistent forms, whereas adult learners will only regularize the most complex inconsistencies. Taken together, these results suggest that regularization processes in natural language learning, such as those seen in the acquisition of language from non-native speakers or in the formation of young languages, may depend crucially on the nature of language learning by young children.
@Article{Kam2009,
  author   = {Carla L Hudson Kam and Elissa L Newport},
  journal  = {Cogn Psychol},
  title    = {Getting it right by getting it wrong: when learners change languages.},
  year     = {2009},
  number   = {1},
  pages    = {30-66},
  volume   = {59},
  abstract = {When natural language input contains grammatical forms that are used
	probabilistically and inconsistently, learners will sometimes reproduce
	the inconsistencies; but sometimes they will instead regularize the
	use of these forms, introducing consistency in the language that
	was not present in the input. In this paper we ask what produces
	such regularization. We conducted three artificial language experiments,
	varying the use of determiners in the types of inconsistency with
	which they are used, and also comparing adult and child learners.
	In Experiment 1 we presented adult learners with scattered inconsistency
	- the use of multiple determiners varying in frequency in the same
	context - and found that adults will reproduce these inconsistencies
	at low levels of scatter, but at very high levels of scatter will
	regularize the determiner system, producing the most frequent determiner
	form almost all the time. In Experiment 2 we showed that this is
	not merely the result of frequency: when determiners are used with
	low frequencies but in consistent contexts, adults will learn all
	of the determiners veridically. In Experiment 3 we compared adult
	and child learners, finding that children will almost always regularize
	inconsistent forms, whereas adult learners will only regularize the
	most complex inconsistencies. Taken together, these results suggest
	that regularization processes in natural language learning, such
	as those seen in the acquisition of language from non-native speakers
	or in the formation of young languages, may depend crucially on the
	nature of language learning by young children.},
  doi      = {10.1016/j.cogpsych.2009.01.001},
  keywords = {19324332},
}

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