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Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
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Language acquisition is model-based rather than model-free.

Felix Hao Wang1, Toben H Mintz1

  • 1Department of PsychologyUniversity of Southern California,3620 McClintock Ave,Los Angeles,CA 90089-1061.wang970@usc.edutmintz@usc.eduhttp://dornsife.usc.edu/tobenmintz.

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Language acquisition involves more than just processing language. Specialized, model-based approaches are necessary, as general prediction mechanisms are insufficient for explaining language learning phenomena.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Theories of language acquisition often focus on processing mechanisms.
  • Christiansen & Chater (C&C) propose language learning is equivalent to language processing via a general-purpose prediction mechanism.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the sufficiency of C&C's general-purpose prediction mechanism for language acquisition.
  • To propose that language acquisition is fundamentally model-based, requiring specialized models for different tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical considerations of language acquisition mechanisms.
  • Review of empirical evidence in language acquisition.

Main Results:

  • The general-purpose prediction mechanism is insufficient to explain diverse language acquisition phenomena.
  • Language acquisition tasks are demonstrably model-based.

Conclusions:

  • Different language acquisition tasks necessitate distinct, specialized models.
  • A shift from general processing to specialized, model-based learning is crucial for understanding language acquisition.