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Related Experiment Videos

Language acquisition and use: learning and applying probabilistic constraints

M S Seidenberg1

  • 1Neuroscience Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA. marks@gizmo.usc.edu

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|March 14, 1997
PubMed
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Children may learn language through statistical patterns, not just innate grammar rules. This research explores how infants acquire language, questioning the necessity of pre-existing grammatical knowledge for language learning.

Area of Science:

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Linguists traditionally define knowing a language as knowing its grammar.
  • The "poverty of the stimulus" argument posits innate grammatical knowledge is essential for language acquisition due to the complexity of language identification.
  • This perspective suggests children possess an inherent understanding of grammatical structures.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the underlying knowledge required for language use and acquisition.
  • To explore an alternative perspective on language acquisition emphasizing statistical learning.
  • To question whether innate capacities for language learning necessarily include specific grammatical structures.

Main Methods:

  • Review of studies on statistical and probabilistic aspects of language.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis of connectionist models of language processing.
  • Examination of infant learning capacities and their role in language acquisition.

    • Main Results:

    • Emerging evidence suggests a continuity between language acquisition and language use.
    • Statistical and probabilistic learning mechanisms appear significant in language development.
    • Infant learning capacities support models that do not rely solely on innate grammatical knowledge.

    Conclusions:

    • Innate capacities likely constrain language learning, but may not encompass explicit grammatical knowledge.
    • Language acquisition may be better explained by general learning mechanisms applied to linguistic input.
    • This challenges traditional views that necessitate innate grammatical structures for children to learn language.