Statistical Learning in Language Acquisition

描述（由申请人提供）：获得一种语言是我们物种所完成的最艰巨的壮举之一。语言学习过程的探索提供了解决与人类认知及其发展有关的核心问题的机会。拟议的研究代表了一种方法，这个主题：架构的学习过程的基础语言习得的研究，使用实验室学习实验进行成人，儿童和婴儿的参与者。这项研究计划的目标是大幅增加我们对统计学习机制的了解，这些机制通过跟踪输入中的声音，单词和其他单位的模式来检测语言单位。最近的研究结果表明，统计学习过程在语言习得中起着重要的作用。然而，目前知之甚少的类型的统计学习者计算和学习的限制，支持成功的知识获取。所提出的实验将问：（1）输入的结构如何约束统计学习？研究将考虑知觉，语言和信息的限制，选择线索作为学习的输入。(2)先前的经验如何影响统计学习？在实验室内外对先前经验的操纵将用于评估对后续学习的影响。(3)统计学习能解释语言习得中的基本现象吗？统计学习和其他类型的过程之间的相互作用，如规则学习和输入中的其他线索的存在，将被调查。所有这些问题都将使用以前开发的实验室学习范式，允许输入和参与者能够学习的详细评估的仔细操作来解决。使用语言材料的研究将与使用非语言材料的研究进行对比，以进一步探索正在考虑的学习机制的轨迹和域特异性。这些问题的答案将为一个新兴的理论框架，约束统计学习，旨在阐明语言习得和人类学习和发展中的其他紧迫问题的研究提供信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Acquiring a language is among the most daunting feats uniformly accomplished by our species. Explorations of the language learning process present the opportunity to address central issues pertaining to human cognition and its development. The proposed research represents one approach to this topic: the study of the architecture of the learning processes underlying language acquisition, using laboratory learning experiments performed with adult, child, and infant participants. The goal of this research program is to substantially increase our knowledge of the statistical learning mechanisms that detect linguistic units by tracking the patterns of sounds, words, and other units in the input. Recent results suggest that statistical learning processes play an important role in the acquisition of language. However, little is currently known about the types of statistical regularities computed by learners and the constraints on learning that support successful knowledge acquisition. The proposed experiments will ask: (1) How does the structure of the input constrain statistical learning? Studies will consider perceptual, linguistic, and informational constraints on the choice of cues as input to learning. (2) How does prior experience influence statistical learning? Manipulations of prior experience, inside and outside the lab, will be used to assess effects on subsequent learning. (3) Can statistical learning account for basic phenomena in language acquisition? Interactions between statistical learning and other types of processes, such as rule learning and the presence of other cues in the input, will be investigated. All of these issues will be addressed using previously developed laboratory learning paradigms that permit careful manipulation of input and detailed assessment of what participants are able to learn. Studies using linguistic materials will be contrasted with studies using nonlinguistic materials to further explore the locus and domain-specificity of the learning mechanisms under consideration. 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.