How variable input shapes word recognition

词汇学习是语言发展的核心部分-语言的所有其他方面都在词汇层面上交叉。这是一个令人惊讶的复杂任务。单词学习者面临两个主要的分类问题-除了确定单词应该映射到世界上的对象集之外，他们还必须确定构成同一个单词的标记集。这是一个困难的问题，因为没有两个单词的实例在声学上是相同的。说话者内部和说话者之间的一些差异并不影响单词的含义。然而，当说话者用不同的口音说出单词时，也会发生沿着维度的变化，从而改变单词的含义。例如，当一个讲法语的人说出英语单词“pig”时，它可能会让英语听众听起来像“big”，因为两种语言中“B”和“p”的发音方式不同。最近的研究探讨了年轻的听众是否能够识别熟悉单词的重音版本。然而，很少有人知道的语言学习者所面临的更复杂的情况下，暴露在他们的环境中的多个词的变体在最初的学习过程。例如，如果爸爸说“pig”，而妈妈（她有法国口音）说的话听起来更像“big”，那么应该将哪个版本存储在该单词的表示中？孩子应该同时存储两个（也许是用扬声器标记的），只存储一个（也许是他们最常听到的那个），还是介于两者之间？到目前为止，只有少数研究解决了这种类型的变量输入如何影响单词表征的问题，并且研究结果不一致，支持上述每一种选择。这些发现的不一致性可能部分是由于这些研究涉及不同的语言和口音变化类型，以及不同的暴露情况。* 本项目的目标是通过在实验室中系统地操纵输入，进一步了解变量输入如何影响单词表征和处理。使用人工语言来研究语言学习的其他方面，为学习者在输入中跟踪的信息的性质提供了至关重要的见解。本研究具有重要的理论意义和应用价值。首先，它将提供有关输入如何塑造单词识别系统的见解，更一般地说，大脑同时处理多个输入系统的能力。理解语言输入如何塑造学习是语言发展研究中最基本的问题之一，而可变输入情境为这个问题提供了一个独特的窗口。其次，这项研究具有实际意义，因为当今全球化世界的儿童越来越有可能在家中，学校或更广泛的社区中接触多种口音。

Word learning is a core part of language development - all other aspects of language intersect at the level of the word. And it is a surprisingly complex task. Word learners face two major categorization problems - in addition to determining the sets of objects in the world to which words should be mapped, they must also determine the set of tokens that constitute the same word. This is a difficult problem because no two instances of a word are acoustically identical. Some differences within and across speakers do not affect the meanings of words. However, when words are produced by speakers with different accents, changes can also occur along dimensions that alter the meanings of words. For example, when a French speaker produces the English word “pig”, it may sound to an English listener like the word “big”, because of differences in how the sounds “b” and “p” are produced in the two languages.***Recent research has explored whether young listeners are able to recognize accented versions of familiar words. However, little is known about the more complex situation faced by language learners who are exposed to multiple word variants in their environment during the initial learning process. For example, if dad says “pig” and mom (who has a French accent) says something that sounds more like “big”, which version should be stored in the representation of that word? Should the child store both (perhaps tagged by speaker), just one (perhaps the one they hear most often), or something in between? Thus far, there have been only a few studies addressing the issue of how this type of variable input affects word representations and the findings have been inconsistent, with support for each of the above alternatives. The inconsistency of these findings is likely due in part to the fact that these studies involve different languages and types of accent variation, as well as different exposure situations. ***The goal of the present project is to further our understanding of how variable input affects word representations and processing by systematically manipulating input in the lab. The use of artificial languages to study other aspects of language learning has provided crucial insights into the nature of the information learners track in the input. This research will have significant theoretical and applied implications. First, it will provide insights into how input shapes the word recognition system and, more generally, the brain's capacity for handling multiple input systems simultaneously. Understanding how language input shapes learning is one of the most fundamental issues in the study of language development and variable-input situations provide a unique window on this issue. Second, this research has practical relevance, as children in today's global world are more and more likely to be exposed to multiple accents in the home, in school, or in the broader community.**