Statistical Learning in Language Acquisition

语言习得中的统计学习

• 批准号: 7144995
• 负责人: JENNY R. SAFFRAN
• 金额: $ 27.57万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-08-01 至 2009-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7144995
• 关键词: Accounting; Acoustics; Address; Adult; Affect; Architecture; Categories; Child; Cognition; Complex; Cues; Development; Goals; Human; Indium; Infant; Knowledge; Knowledge acquisition; Laboratories; Language; Language Development; Learning; Linguistics; Machine Learning; Methodology; Nature; Operative Surgical Procedures; Output; Participant; Pattern; Play; Probability; Process; Research; Role; Solutions; Specificity; Speech; Structure; System; analog; base; design; experience; programs; research study; sound; theories

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.

描述(由申请者提供)：掌握一门语言是我们人类一致完成的最艰巨的壮举之一。对语言学习过程的探索为解决与人类认知及其发展有关的中心问题提供了机会。这项拟议的研究代表了这一主题的一种方法：通过对成人、儿童和婴儿参与者进行的实验室学习实验，研究语言习得背后的学习过程的架构。这个研究项目的目标是通过跟踪输入中的声音、单词和其他单位的模式来显著增加我们对统计学习机制的知识，这些机制可以检测语言单位。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作用。然而，目前对学习者计算的统计规则的类型以及支持成功获取知识的学习限制因素知之甚少。所提出的实验将问：(1)输入的结构如何约束统计学习？研究将考虑对线索选择的知觉、语言和信息限制作为学习的输入。(2)以前的经验如何影响统计学习？实验室内外对先前经验的处理将被用来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？将调查统计学习与其他类型的过程之间的相互作用，例如规则学习和输入中是否存在其他提示。所有这些问题都将利用以前开发的实验室学习范例加以解决，这些范例允许仔细处理投入，并详细评估参与者能够学到什么。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，以进一步探索所考虑的学习机制的位置和领域特殊性。对这些问题的回答将形成一个新兴的理论框架，即受限统计学习，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。