Constraints on Learning from Inconsistent Input

从不一致的输入中学习的限制

• 批准号: 7390362
• 负责人: CARLA L HUDSON KAM
• 金额: $ 18.03万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-04-01 至 2010-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7390362
• 关键词: Address; Adult; Affect; Age; Animals; Child; Childhood; Cognitive; Complex; Computer information processing; Data; Development; Disease; Elements; Goals; Human; Knowledge; Language; Language Development; Lead; Learning; Machine Learning; Modality; Nature; Numbers; Pattern; Positioning Attribute; Principal Investigator; Process; Property; Research; Research Design; Research Personnel; Series; Short-Term Memory; Source; Specificity; Time; Variant; Work; age related; design; programs; research study; stem

All human learners with normal cognitive capacities who are exposed to language input in childhood manage to acquire a language that looks very much like their input. However, at present we have little idea how, exactly, learners accomplish this feat. We have little understanding of the nature of the learning mechanisms that underlie and support language learning. This is the focus of the research in this proposal. Three general questions guide the research.(1) What are the constraints on language learning mechanisms? (2) Are the learning mechanisms involved in language acquisition specific to language or are they of a more general nature? (3) Do these mechanisms change over time as learners age, and if 'so, how? The proposed research examines these questions by investigating the learning of probabilistic and inconsistent patterns in the input using miniature artificial languages. This provides a rather unique view of the constraints on learning mechanisms, examining the limits of what can and cannot be learned. Previous work has shown that learners can acquire probabilistic patterns, however they sometimes impose consistency on variation. Moreover, children are more likely to change such patterns than are adults. The present research expands on the earlier results, asking about the nature of the interaction between learners and input. Series 1 asks about the nature of the input that makes some inconstancy learnable and some not. The studies examine the limits of veridical learning of inconsistent patterns in languages, asking questions about the specificity of computations learners can perform, the representations over which such computations can be performed, and the effect of prior domain-specific knowledge. Series 2 asks about the nature of the learner, asking why learners regularize over inconsistency at all.In particular, the studies examine whether working memory constraints, rather than constraints stemming directly from the learning mechanisms themselves, are an important factor influencing whether learners acquire the variation or instead impose regularity. Both series will be conducted with adults and children to examine how learning changes over development. Although the input in the proposed studies is somewhat atypical, the results from these studies will contribute to our understanding of the learning mechanisms involved in language acquisition more generally, and ultimately, this increases our understanding of both normal and disordered acquisition.

所有具有正常认知能力、在童年时期接触过语言输入的人类学习者 设法获得一种与他们的输入非常相似的语言。但目前我们掌握的还很少 了解学习者究竟如何完成这一壮举。我们对学习的本质知之甚少 构成和支持语言学习的机制。这是本次研究的重点 提议。三个一般性问题指导着本研究。（1）语言学习的限制是什么 机制？ (2) 语言习得所涉及的学习机制是特定于语言的还是 它们具有更普遍的性质吗？ (3) 这些机制是否随着学习者年龄的增长而改变？ '那么，怎么样？拟议的研究通过调查概率学习来检验这些问题 使用微型人工语言输入的模式不一致。这提供了一个相当独特的 考虑学习机制的限制，检查可以学习和不能学习的限制。 先前的工作表明，学习者可以获得概率模式，但有时他们会 对变化施加一致性。此外，儿童比成年人更有可能改变这种模式。 成年人。目前的研究扩展了早期的结果，询问了相互作用的本质 学习者和输入之间。系列 1 询问导致某些不稳定的输入的性质 可以学习，有些则不能。这些研究考察了真实学习不一致模式的局限性 语言，询问学习者可以执行的计算的特殊性问题， 可以执行此类计算的表示，以及先前特定领域的效果 知识。系列 2 询问学习者的本质，询问学习者为什么会规律化 特别是，这些研究检查了工作记忆是否受到限制，而不是 直接源于学习机制本身的约束是一个重要因素 影响学习者是获得变化还是强加规律性。两个系列都将 与成人和儿童一起进行，以检查学习如何随着发展而变化。虽然 拟议研究中的投入有些不典型，这些研究的结果将有助于我们 更广泛地理解涉及语言习得的学习机制，以及 最终，这增加了我们对正常和无序习得的理解。