Modeling Cross-Modal Interactions in Early Word Learning

Althaus, Nadja; Mareschal, Denis

doi:10.1109/tamd.2013.2264858

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…First, their role is instrumental, as we use them to illustrate the dynamic approach to complexity we intend to advocate. Hence, some of the points made here will also hold, with some qualifications, for other existing computational models (Althaus and Mareschal, 2013;Baayen et al, 2019;Li et al, 2007;Mayor and Plunkett, 2010, among others). Secondly, TSOMs are based on discriminative principles of selective synchronization of processing nodes, supporting a Word-and-Paradigm view of the mental lexicon 1 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

A Processing-Oriented Investigation of Inflectional Complexity

2019

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Due to the typological diversity of their inflectional processes, some languages are intuitively more difficult than other languages. Yet, finding a single measure to quantitatively assess the comparative complexity of an inflectional system proves an exceedingly difficult endeavor. In this paper we propose to investigate the issue from a processing-oriented standpoint, using data processed by a type of recurrent neural network to quantitatively model the dynamic of word processing and learning in different input conditions. We evaluate the relative complexity of a set of typologically different inflectional systems (Greek, Italian, Spanish, German, English and Standard Modern Arabic) by training a Temporal Self-Organizing Map (TSOM), a recurrent variant of Kohonen's Self-Organizing Maps, on a fixed set of verb forms from top-frequency verb paradigms, with no information about the morphosemantic and morphosyntactic content conveyed by the forms. After training, the behavior of each language-specific TSOM is assessed on different tasks, looking at self-organizing patterns of temporal connectivity and functional responses. Our simulations show that word processing is facilitated by maximally contrastive inflectional systems, where verb forms exhibit the earliest possible point of lexical discrimination. Conversely, word learning is favored by a maximally generalizable system, where forms are inferred from the smallest possible number of their paradigm companions. Based on evidence from the literature and our own data, we conjecture that the resulting balance is the outcome of the interaction between form frequency and morphological regularity. Big families of stem-sharing, regularly inflected forms are the productive core of an inflectional system. Such a core is easier to learn but slower to discriminate. In contrast, less predictable verb forms, based on alternating and possibly suppletive stems, are easier to process but are learned by rote. Inflection systems thus strike a balance between these conflicting processing and communicative requirements, while staying within tight learnability bounds, in line with Ackermann and Malouf's Low Conditional Entropy Conjecture. Our quantitative investigation supports a discriminative view of morphological inflection as a collective, emergent system, whose global self-organization rests on a surprisingly small handful of language-independent principles of word coactivation and competition.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

A Processing-Oriented Investigation of Inflectional Complexity

2019

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“…It is, however, unlikely that infants have achieved a considerable vocabulary prior to linking any words to objects. Furthermore, as described above, there is considerable evidence that mappings between objects and labels affect their representations (see also [ 77 , 78 ]). This model therefore accounted neither for prelinguistic categorization nor for the effect of labels on categories.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From perceptual to language-mediated categorization

Westermann

Mareschal

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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From at least two months onwards, infants can form perceptual categories. During the first year of life, object knowledge develops from the ability to represent individual object features to representing correlations between attributes and to integrate information from different sources. At the end of the first year, these representations are shaped by labels, opening the way to conceptual knowledge. Here, we review the development of object knowledge and object categorization over the first year of life. We then present an artificial neural network model that models the transition from early perceptual categorization to categories mediated by labels. The model informs a current debate on the role of labels in object categorization by suggesting that although labels do not act as object features they nevertheless affect perceived similarity of perceptually distinct objects sharing the same label. The model presents the first step of an integrated account from early perceptual categorization to language-based concept learning.

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“…We believe that a commonality focus can be seen as an indicator that comparison occurs across different category instances. Recognizing commonalities may, for instance, allow for tighter grouping of category exemplars [40] . Clearly, however, 12-month-olds in the Label and No Label conditions did not just learn about the commonalities, but also about the high-variability features: it is impossible to exhibit novelty preference on test without representing the claw and shell parts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labels Direct Infants’ Attention to Commonalities during Novel Category Learning

Althaus

Mareschal

2014

PLoS ONE

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Recent studies have provided evidence that labeling can influence the outcome of infants’ visual categorization. However, what exactly happens during learning remains unclear. Using eye-tracking, we examined infants’ attention to object parts during learning. Our analysis of looking behaviors during learning provide insights going beyond merely observing the learning outcome. Both labeling and non-labeling phrases facilitated category formation in 12-month-olds but not 8-month-olds (Experiment 1). Non-linguistic sounds did not produce this effect (Experiment 2). Detailed analyses of infants’ looking patterns during learning revealed that only infants who heard labels exhibited a rapid focus on the object part successive exemplars had in common. Although other linguistic stimuli may also be beneficial for learning, it is therefore concluded that labels have a unique impact on categorization.

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Modeling Cross-Modal Interactions in Early Word Learning

Cited by 15 publications

References 42 publications

A Processing-Oriented Investigation of Inflectional Complexity

A Processing-Oriented Investigation of Inflectional Complexity

From perceptual to language-mediated categorization

Labels Direct Infants’ Attention to Commonalities during Novel Category Learning

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