Experience and Maturation: The Contribution of Co-occurrence Regularities in Language to the Development of Semantic Organization

Abstract

With development, we acquire a rich body of knowledge about the world. This knowledge is represented by concepts, denoted by words (e.g., juicy, apple, and pear), which are connected by meaningful, semantic links (e.g., apples and pears are similar, and can both be juicy). One potentially powerful driver of this development is sensitivity to regularities with which words co-occur in language. Specifically, language is rich in regularities that can support: (1) Associative semantic links, between words that directly co-occur (e.g., juicy - apple), and (2) Taxonomic semantic links, between words that share patterns of direct co-occurrence (e.g., apple and pear both co-occur with juicy). Here, we investigated the development of learning abilities to form semantic links from these regularities. Results revealed that both four-year-olds and adults formed semantic links based on direct co-occurrence, whereas formation of links based on shared patterns of co-occurrence was robust only in adults. Our findings further suggest that even abilities to form links based on direct co-occurrence (i.e. associative links) may improve with development, which may, in part, account for the protracted development of links based on shared co-occurrence (i.e. taxonomic links). We discuss how these results may provide key insight into how semantic organization develops.

No frills: Simple regularities in language can go a long way in the development of word knowledge

“…As in Savic et al. (2022)'s studies with words, the capacity to integrate develops only gradually and remains below adult levels even in 9‐year‐old children. Similarly protracted developmental trajectories have been observed in studies of forming memories that span different experiences (Schlichting et al., 2021, 2017; Shing et al., 2019).…”

“…In 4-year-old children, evidence of integration is weak and largely dependent on explicit prompts during a subsequent test. As in Savic et al (2022)'s studies with words, the capacity to integrate develops only gradually and remains below adult levels even in 9-year-old children. Similarly protracted developmental trajectories have been observed in studies of forming memories that span different experiences (Schlichting, Guarino, Roome, & Preston, 2021;Schlichting, Guarino, Schapiro, Turk-Browne, & Preston, 2017;Shing et al, 2019).…”

“…Moreover, influential accounts of the acquisition of semantically organized knowledge point to such extensive exposure and opportunities for memory consolidation as critical facets of this process (e.g., Kumaran et al., 2016). In contrast, studies to date have primarily assessed learning of statistical regularities given a single session of exposure (though see Savic et al., 2022, Study 2 for a recent exception). Therefore, future research into the development of learning statistical regularities of word use over extended periods of time could provide greater insight into the regularities that contribute to the development of semantically organized word knowledge.…”

“…This evidence primarily comes from a handful of studies with infants (Gerken, Wilson, & Lewis, 2005;Lany & Saffran, 2013, 2010, in which learning only occurred when occurrence in similar contexts was correlated with additional cues. In contrast, one recent series of studies suggests that the capacity to learn that words are similar in meaning based solely on their occurrence in similar contexts develops very gradually (Savic, Unger, & Sloutsky, 2022). To study the development of this capacity, these studies simplified the challenge of learning the occurrence of words in similar contexts, so that one pair of words occurred in one context, and another pair of words occurred in a different context.…”