The Role of NP Animacy and Expletives in Verb Learning

Becker, Misha

doi:10.1080/10489220903178997

Cited by 21 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…First, animacy is the most commonly used feature across all types of noun classification systems (Dixon 1986). Second, sensitivity to animacy is apparent very early in child grammars (e.g., Becker, 2009;Bunger & Lidz, 2006). This setup mirrors conceptually the natural language acquisition experiments conducted by Karmiloff-Smith (1981) and others, while manipulating the particular cues in question.…”

Section: Experiments 1: Cue Saliencementioning

confidence: 81%

Competition between phonological and semantic cues in noun class learning

Culbertson

Gagliardi

Smith

2017

Journal of Memory and Language

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Learning noun classification systems, like gender, involves inferring a language-particular set of (often probabilistic) cues to class membership. Previous work has shown that learners rely disproportionately on phonological cues (e.g., Karmiloff-Smith, 1981; Gagliardi & Lidz, 2014). Surprisingly, this occurs even when competing semantic cues are more reliable predictors of class. We investigate two possible explanations for this: first, that phonological cues are more salient to learners than semantic cues, and second that phonological cues are generally available earlier than semantic cues. We show that adult learners' treatment of conflicting cues to noun class in a miniature artificial language depends on both cue saliency and early availability. Importantly, learners prioritize earlier-available cues even when they are less salient than competitor cues. Our findings suggest a possible mechanism for children's over-reliance on phonology: children start building their classifications systems very early, when phonological information is available, but word meanings are not.

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Section: Experiments 1: Cue Saliencementioning

confidence: 81%

Competition between phonological and semantic cues in noun class learning

Culbertson

Gagliardi

Smith

2017

Journal of Memory and Language

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show abstract

“…They require learners to track both deterministic and probabilistic cues across multiple domains, each of which may apply to a different subset of nouns, with a substantial number of exceptional elements which must simply be memorized. On the face of it, semantic cues like natural gender, animacy, and shape are highly salient, and early acquired (Strickland, 2017;Becker, 2009;Bunger & Lidz, 2006). Therefore, if these types of cues are present for a subset of nouns in a language, and are highly reliable indicators of a noun's class, then such cues should be extremely useful to young learners.…”

Section: Frenchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s sensitivity to phonological and semantic cues during noun class learning: evidence for a phonological bias

Culbertson¹,

Järvinen²,

Haggarty³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Previous research on the acquisition of noun classification systems (e.g., grammatical gender) has found that child learners rely disproportionately on phonological cues to determine the class of a new noun, even when competing semantic cues are more reliable in their language. Culbertson, Gagliardi, and Smith (2017) argue that this likely results from the early availability of phonological information during acquisition; learners base their initial representations on formal features of nouns, only later integrating semantic cues from noun meanings . Here, we use artificial language learning experiments to show that early availability drives cue use in children (67 year-olds). However, we also find evidence of developmental changes in sensitivity to semantics; when both cues types are simultaneously available, children are more likely to rely on phonology than adults. Our results suggest that early availability and a bias favoring phonological cues both contribute to children’s over-reliance on phonology in natural language acquisition.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s Sensitivity to Phonological and Semantic Cues During Noun Class Learning: Evidence for a Phonological Bias

Culbertson¹,

Järvinen²,

Haggarty³

et al. 2019

Language

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Previous research on the acquisition of noun classification systems (e.g., grammatical gender) has found that child learners rely disproportionately on phonological cues to determine the class of a new noun, even when competing semantic cues are more reliable in their language. Culbertson, Gagliardi, and Smith (2017) use artificial language learning experiments with adults to argue that this likely results from the early availability of phonological information during acquisition. Learners base their initial representations on formal features of nouns, only later integrating semantic cues from noun meanings. Here, we use these same methods to show that early availability affects cue use in children (6-7 year-olds) as well. However, we also find evidence of developmental changes in sensitivity to semantics; when both cues types are simultaneously available, children are more likely to rely on phonology than adults. Our results suggest that early availability and a bias favoring phonological cues both contribute to children's over-reliance on phonology in natural language acquisition.

show abstract

The Role of NP Animacy and Expletives in Verb Learning

Cited by 21 publications

References 15 publications

Competition between phonological and semantic cues in noun class learning

Competition between phonological and semantic cues in noun class learning

Children’s sensitivity to phonological and semantic cues during noun class learning: evidence for a phonological bias

Children’s Sensitivity to Phonological and Semantic Cues During Noun Class Learning: Evidence for a Phonological Bias

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