Statistical Learning in Language Acquisition

描述(申请人提供)：第一语言习得是人类规范发展的标志。大量研究表明，跟踪语言输入中的统计规律的能力有助于语言学习。本项目期间的研究清楚地表明，婴儿是强大的统计学习者。然而，这些能力与婴儿语言环境中出现的学习问题的相关性仍然知之甚少。这项申请中提出的研究将测试关于婴儿统计语言学习的具体假设，重点是婴儿如何利用统计信息。具体目的之一是确定婴儿可以使用哪些表面统计数据，以确定给定的自然语言输入。具体目标二是确定真实语音中声音序列的统计数据如何影响单词学习。具体目的三是确定婴儿的在线语言加工是否受到统计信息的影响。在这一竞争性延续申请中提出的研究结果将扩大我们对规范发展的学习机制的理解，从而促进积极的发展成果。不善于统计学习的人可能有患发育性语言障碍的风险。随后的研究将利用这些研究的结果来推动调查，包括处于非典型语言发展风险的幼儿群体。 公共卫生相关性：这些研究侧重于典型的语言发展，提供了一个机会来测试关于积极语言习得结果背后的机制的有针对性的假设。这一结果将为后续对有非典型语言发育风险的儿童的研究提供信息，非典型语言发育是一个主要的公共卫生问题。我们目前正在与一些相关人群合作，这些人群是基于本申请中提议的实验进行的未来研究的潜在目标，包括有特殊语言障碍的儿童(圣地亚哥州立大学的Julia Evans博士)，使用人工耳蜗术的聋儿(Ruth Litovsky博士，UW-Madison和Tina Grieco-Calub博士，北伊利诺伊大学)，说话迟缓的幼儿(Susan Ellis-Weismer博士，UW-Madison)，生活贫困的儿童(Jan Edwards和Julie Washington博士，UW-Madison)，威廉姆斯综合征幼儿(Carolyn Mervis博士和Cara Cashon博士，路易斯维尔大学)和患有脑瘫的儿童(与威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的凯蒂·赫斯塔德博士一起)。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): First language acquisition is a hallmark of normative human development. A substantial body of research suggests that language learning is facilitated by the ability to track statistical regularities in linguistic input. Research during the current project period clearly demonstrates that infants are powerful statistical learners. However, the relevance of these abilities to the learning problems presented in infants' linguistic environments remains poorly understood. The research proposed in this application will test specific hypotheses concerning infant statistical language learning, focusing on how infants make use of statistical information. Specific Aim One is to determine which surface statistics infants can use given natural language input. Specific Aim Two is to determine how the statistics of sound sequences in real speech influence word learning. Specific Aim Three is to determine whether infants' on-line language processing is affected by statistical information. The results of the research proposed in this competing continuation application will promote positive developmental outcomes by expanding our understanding of the learning mechanisms underlying normative development. Individuals who are less facile at statistical learning may be at risk for developmental language disorders. Subsequent research will use the outcome of these studies to motivate investigations including populations of young children at risk for atypical language development. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: These studies, which are focused on typical language development, provide an opportunity to test targeted hypotheses concerning the mechanisms underlying positive language acquisition outcomes. The results will inform subsequent studies of children at risk for atypical language development, a major public health concern. We are currently working with a number of relevant populations who are potential targets of future studies based on the experiments proposed in this application, including children with Specific Language Impairment (with Dr. Julia Evans, San Diego State University), deaf toddlers who use cochlear implants (with Dr. Ruth Litovsky, UW-Madison and Dr. Tina Grieco-Calub, Northern Illinois University), toddlers who are late-talkers (with Dr. Susan Ellis-Weismer, UW-Madison), children living in poverty (with Drs. Jan Edwards and Julie Washington, UW-Madison), toddlers with Williams Syndrome (with Drs. Carolyn Mervis and Cara Cashon, U. of Lousiville), and children with Cerebral Palsy (with Dr. Katie Hustad, UW-Madison).