Constraints on Learning from Inconsistent Input

所有在儿童时期接触过语言输入的具有正常认知能力的人类学习者 设法获得一种看起来非常像他们输入的语言。然而，目前我们几乎没有 想一想学习者究竟是如何完成这一壮举的。我们对学习的本质知之甚少 语言学习的基础和支持机制。这是本文研究的重点。 求婚。三个一般性的问题指导着这项研究。(1)语言学习的制约因素是什么 机制？(2)语言习得中涉及的学习机制是特定于语言还是 它们是否具有更一般的性质？(3)随着学习者年龄的增长，这些机制是否会随着时间的推移而变化？ 那么，如何呢？这项拟议的研究通过调查概率学习来检验这些问题 以及使用微型人工语言的输入中不一致的模式。这提供了一种相当独特的 了解学习机制的制约因素，考察哪些知识可以学习，哪些知识不能学习。 前人的工作表明，学习者可以获得概率模式，但有时他们会 在变化上强加一致性。此外，孩子们更有可能改变这样的模式 成年人。目前的研究扩展了早期的结果，询问了相互作用的性质 在学习者和输入之间。系列1询问造成一些不稳定的输入的性质 有些是可以学习的，有些则不是。这项研究考察了对不一致模式的真实学习的限度 语言，询问学习者可以执行的计算的特殊性， 可在其上执行此类计算的表示法，以及先前特定领域的影响 知识。系列2问学习者的性质，问为什么学习者要规律化 尤其是，这些研究考察了工作记忆的限制，而不是 直接源于学习机制本身的限制是一个重要因素 影响学习者是习得变异，还是强加规律性。这两个系列都将是 在成人和儿童中进行，研究学习是如何改变发展的。尽管 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的 对语言习得所涉及的学习机制有更广泛的了解，以及 最终，这增加了我们对正常习得和无序习得的理解。

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.