Artificial Grammar Learning in Infants, Adults, and Songbirds: What Is Shared, What Is Learned?

Geambaşu, Andreea; Levelt, Clara C.; Spierings, Michelle J.; Cate, Carel ten

doi:10.1142/9789814603638_0085

Cited by 2 publications

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“…However, we might also expect an interaction between familiarization pattern and consistency of the test sentences in our experiment, which was not observed in the original study. Specifically, we could imagine that a bigger difference between consistent and inconsistent trials would be observed in the ABB familiarization condition: strings containing a syllable repetition might be less surprising for young children than strings that do not contain such a repetition (Gerken et al., 2015 ), for example, because Dutch children tend to produce such strings more (Geambașu et al., 2016 ). If such a surprise bias is indeed present, this should lead to a bigger difference between consistent and inconsistent trials in the ABB familiarization condition than in the ABA familiarization condition.…”

Section: Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robustness of the rule‐learning effect in 7‐month‐old infants: A close, multicenter replication of Marcus et al. (1999)

Geambaşu

Spit

Renswoude

et al. 2022

Developmental Science

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We conducted a close replication of the seminal work by Marcus and colleagues from 1999, which showed that after a brief auditory exposure phase, 7-month-old infants were able to learn and generalize a rule to novel syllables not previously present in the exposure phase. This work became the foundation for the theoretical framework by which we assume that infants are able to learn abstract representations and generalize linguistic rules. While some extensions on the original work have shown evidence of rule learning, the outcomes are mixed, and an exact replication of Marcus et al.'s study has thus far not been reported. A recent meta-analysis by Rabagliati and colleagues brings to light that the rule-learning effect depends on stimulus type (e.g., meaningfulness, speech vs. nonspeech) and is not as robust as often assumed. In light of the theoretical importance of the issue at stake, it is appropriate and necessary to assess the replicability and robustness of Marcus et al.'s findings. Here we have undertaken a replication across four labs with a large sample of 7-month-old infants (N = 96), using the same exposure patterns (ABA and ABB), methodology (Headturn Preference Paradigm), and original stimuli. As in the original study, we tested the hypothesis that infants are able to learn abstract "algebraic" rules and apply them to novel input. Our results did not replicate the original findings: infants showed no difference in looking time between test patterns consistent or inconsistent with the familiarization pattern they were exposed to.

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Section: Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robustness of the rule‐learning effect in 7‐month‐old infants: A close, multicenter replication of Marcus et al. (1999)

Geambaşu

Spit

Renswoude

et al. 2022

Developmental Science

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show abstract

“…Both presentation modes have been equally used in animal AGL experiments, but the informant presentation mode is all but absent in human experimentation. A good example of the latter is the Geambasu et al () study. In this xxy/xyx ‐type rule learning study in adults, the two presentation modes were systematically compared and they produced dramatically different results.…”

Section: Some Outstanding Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Empirical Methodology, Constraints, and Hierarchy in Artificial Grammar Learning

Levelt

2019

Topics in Cognitive Science

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This paper considers the AGL literature from a psycholinguistic perspective. It first presents a taxonomy of the experimental familiarization test procedures used, which is followed by a consideration of shortcomings and potential improvements of the empirical methodology. It then turns to reconsidering the issue of grammar learning from the point of view of acquiring constraints, instead of the traditional AGL approach in terms of acquiring sets of rewrite rules. This is, in particular, a natural way of handling long‐distance dependences. The final section addresses an underdeveloped issue in the AGL literature, namely how to detect latent hierarchical structure in AGL response patterns.

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Artificial Grammar Learning in Infants, Adults, and Songbirds: What Is Shared, What Is Learned?

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Robustness of the rule‐learning effect in 7‐month‐old infants: A close, multicenter replication of Marcus et al. (1999)

Robustness of the rule‐learning effect in 7‐month‐old infants: A close, multicenter replication of Marcus et al. (1999)

On Empirical Methodology, Constraints, and Hierarchy in Artificial Grammar Learning

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