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Cognitive architectures and language acquisition: a case study in pronoun comprehension
Jacolien VAN Rij1, Hedderik VAN Rijn, Petra Hendriks
1University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. J.C.van.Rij@rug.nl
Journal of Child Language
|April 1, 2010
Summary
Children’s difficulty with pronoun interpretation, known as the Delay of Principle B Effect (DPBE), stems from limited processing speed. Slowing speech and computational models confirmed this, showing children need more time to consider speaker perspective.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Developmental Psychology
- Computational Linguistics
Background:
- Children often struggle with pronoun interpretation, a phenomenon termed the Delay of Principle B Effect (DPBE).
- Existing theories suggest DPBE arises from difficulties in considering the speaker's perspective during language processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test a computational cognitive model explaining children's DPBE.
- To investigate the role of linguistic processing speed in children's ability to account for speaker perspective.
Main Methods:
- Developed a computational cognitive model based on limited processing speed hindering the consideration of speaker perspective.
- Conducted a psycholinguistic study manipulating speech rate to provide children more interpretation time.
- Performed computational simulations to validate model predictions.
Main Results:
- Empirical and simulation studies confirmed the model's predictions.
- Slower speech rates improved children's pronoun interpretation, supporting the processing speed hypothesis.
- The model successfully predicted performance variations.
Conclusions:
- Children's Delay of Principle B Effect is linked to limited linguistic processing speed, impeding the integration of speaker perspective.
- Integrating linguistic competence theories within cognitive architectures yields testable predictions for language performance.
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