Collaborative Research: Deconstructing Wordlikeness Judgments

人类对他们所说的语言有不同的知识。语音定位知识是指他们对词语中的语音模式的知识。这些知识通常是通过行为实验来研究的，比如类词判断任务，在这个任务中，说话者被要求指出一个临时的（编造的）单词形式是否可能是他们语言中的真实的单词。这些研究已经观察到，类词判断是梯度的，也就是说，它们形成了一个可接受性的梯度。 这个项目检查不同类型的计算模型和实验设计，以更好地理解这种梯度判断的语法系统的性质。 例如，一类计算模型试图通过在复杂的统计模型中加入细粒度的概括来解释类似单词的任务中的这种梯度。 相比之下，其他模型的基础上，完全分类概括似乎做得一样好，在占行为的wordlikeness的发现。这表明行为实验中观察到的梯度可能反映了实验环境，而不是知识本身的潜在语法。这个合作研究项目开发了一个彻底的调查，这些对比帐户的梯度在人类类词的判断。该项目为研究生提供现代实验和计算方法的指导和研究培训机会;它创建了一个开放访问的项目实验结果在线数据库，作为语言科学其他研究人员的资源。此外，研究人员计划在以非正式科学教育为重点的环境中开展针对公众的外展活动。该研究项目解构了与文字相似性判断相关的各种因素。它包括实验研究，操纵的反应措施和刺激和反应方式，以引起人类被试的词似性判断的nonce形式从英语和韩语的发言者。 各种计算模型进行评估比较，以及它们可以适合的实验研究的结果。该项目的相互关联的研究旨在回答以下问题：（a）不同的显式计算模型如何执行对观察到的类词判断，（B）在多大程度上与人类感知的概率性质相关的可接受性判断的梯度，以及（c）所获得的结果是否受到单词形式呈现给说话者的方式的影响（例如，视觉上）和/或在哪些发言者记录他们的判断？该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Humans have different kinds of knowledge about the languages they speak. Phonotactic knowledge refers to their knowledge about sound patterns in words. Such knowledge is usually studied through behavioral experiments such as wordlikeness judgment tasks, in which a speaker is asked to indicate whether a nonce (made-up) word form could be a real word in their language. Such studies have observed that wordlikeness judgements are gradient; that is, they form a cline of acceptability. This project examines different types of computational models and experimental designs to better understand the nature of the grammatical system that underly this variety of gradient judgment. For example, one class of computational models seek to account for this gradience in wordlikeness tasks by incorporating fine-grained generalizations in sophisticated statistical models. In contrast, other models based solely on categorical generalizations appear to do just as well in accounting for behavioral wordlikeness findings. This suggests that gradience observed in the behavioral experiments may reflect the experimental setting rather than the underlying grammar of the knowledge itself. This collaborative research project develops a thorough investigation of these contrasting accounts of gradience in human wordlikeness judgements. The project provides mentoring and research training opportunities for graduate students in modern experimental and computational methods; and it creates an open-access, online database of the project's experimental results that serves as a resource for other researchers in the language sciences. In addition, the investigators plan to engage in outreach activities targeting members of the public in settings focusing on informal science education.This research project deconstructs the variety of factors involved in wordlikeness judgements. It includes experimental studies that manipulate response measures and stimulus and response modality to elicit human-subjects' wordlikeness judgments for nonce forms from speakers of English and Korean. A variety of computational models are assessed by comparing how well they can be fitted to the results of the experimental studies. The project's interconnected studies aim to answer the following questions: (a) how do different explicit computational models perform against observed wordlikeness judgments, (b) to what degree is gradience in acceptability judgments related to the probabilistic nature of human perception, and (c) are the results obtained affected by the manner in which words forms are presented to speakers (e.g., auditorily vs. visually) and/or in which speakers record their judgments?This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.