LD: The wonder of words Flashcards
The problem of word segmentation and possible solutions
Spaces between words can’t be heard
Phonotactic constraints: limitations on which sequences of sounds are permissible in that language;
Prosodic constraints: influencing which stress patterns are common in that language
Infants are aware of both of these by 9 months old.
What is transition probability (TPs)
The intuition that language always have the same sequence of phonemes.
This is statistical learning of which things occur with each other.
Is Tracking TPs a language-specific skill
Also in Visual sequences; Action sequences; Spatial organisation
Why is word learning a problem?
Arbitrariness of sign: The form (sound) of a word tells you very little about its meaning;
Problem of reference: The meaning of any word is logically under-constrained.
When do children start to produce words
The first words usually come in between 8 and 14 months, but this varies tremendously.
Some point (usually between 14-24 months) there is a vocabulary spurt characterized by very rapid learning
Vocabulary growth varies with
SES and environment;
Partly due to the number of words they hear;
Possibly due to the amount of conversational turn-taking they experience
How is production followed by comprehension
Understood more than said
How do children learn words?
Children rely on a number of useful biases and principles:
Shape bias;
Mutual exclusivity;
Size principle;
Social reasoning
Shape bias
Children prefer to categorize (most) nouns by shape.
May be learned based on statistical associations between words and features of the categories they pick out.
Mutual exclusivity
Children generally assume items don’t have more than one label
Size principle
Multiple examples are evidence for the smallest category that covers them
Social reasoning
Infants only learn labels if the speaker is looking at the objects
