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Propose but verify: fast mapping meets cross-situational word learning
John C Trueswell1, Tamara Nicol Medina, Alon Hafri
1Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. trueswel@psych.upenn.edu
Cognitive Psychology
|November 13, 2012
Summary
Adults learn new words using a "propose-but-verify" strategy, not gradual statistical learning. This fast mapping approach challenges existing word learning theories.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Current theories suggest adults use statistical-associative learning for word acquisition under referential ambiguity.
- This gradual process involves forming multiple hypotheses and converging on a single word-referent mapping.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the learning procedure adults employ when pairing novel words with visual referents in ambiguous situations.
- To test whether word learning is a gradual statistical process or a faster, one-trial 'propose-but-verify' mechanism.
Main Methods:
- Three eyetracking experiments were conducted with adult participants learning nonce words and referents.
- Referential uncertainty was varied across trials.
- Both explicit (referent selection) and implicit (eye movements) measures were used.
Main Results:
- Participants did not retain multiple meaning hypotheses across learning instances.
- Evidence supports a 'propose-but-verify' learning procedure, where hypotheses are retained unless disconfirmed.
Conclusions:
- Findings challenge gradualist accounts of word learning.
- Results align with a rapid 'fast mapping' process, consistent with first language vocabulary acquisition speed.
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