STATISTICAL LEARNING IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

对婴儿来说，语言的习得是一项艰巨的任务。 对这一进程的研究为解决核心问题提供了机会 与人类认知的早期发展有关。本申请集中 关于统计语言学习机制， 跟踪声音的输入模式。最近的研究表明，婴儿 学习者拥有统计学习机制，可能会发挥重要的作用， 在语言习得中的作用。仍然未知的是， 机制相互作用，以获得语言结构，给定多个 可能性拟议的研究通过提出 以下问题：（1）婴儿是否可以对同一组数据进行多次分析 因此，一组统计数据的输出 计算是下一次分析的输入，同时， 一次处理多个级别？哪些因素决定哪些分析 是学习过程的产物吗(2)执行类似的约束， 关于声学和统计结构的学习， 成人、儿童和婴儿的统计语言学习？(3)是 在（1）-（2）中研究的统计学习机制 对于语言学习，或者他们能对来自其他领域的刺激起作用吗？ 这些问题将使用以前开发的实验室解决 学习范例，允许仔细操作的输入。答案 这些问题将为一个新兴的理论框架提供信息， 统计学习，旨在阐明语言习得的研究 以及人类学习和发展中的其他紧迫问题。

The acquisition of language is a daunting task for infants. Research on this process provides an opportunity to address central issues related to the early development of human cognition. This application focuses on statistical language learning mechanisms that detect linguistic units by tracking input patterns of sounds. Recent research suggests that infant learners possess statistical learning mechanisms that may play an important role in language acquisition. Still unknown is the way in which these mechanisms interact to derive linguistic structure, given multiple possibilities. The proposed research addresses these issues by posing the following questions: (1) Can infants perform multiple analyses of the same set of input subsequently, so that the output of one set of statistical computations is the input to the next analysis, and simultaneously, such that multiple levels are processed at once? What factors determine which analysis emerges as the output of the learning process? (2) Do similar constraints on learning, with respect to acoustic and statistical structure, govern statistical language learning by adults, children, and infants? (3) Are the statistical learning mechanisms investigated in (1)-(2) tailored specifically for language learning, or can they operate on stimuli drawn from other domains? These questions will be addressed using previously developed laboratory learning paradigms which permit careful manipulation of the input. The answers to these questions will inform an emerging theoretical framework, constrained statistical learning, intended to elucidate the study of language acquisition and other pressing issues in human learning and development.