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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