Combining Statistics: the Role of Phonotactics on Cross-situational Word Learning

Overview

Journal Psicol Reflex Crit

Specialty Psychology

Date 2022 Sep 28

PMID 36169750

Authors

Rodrigo Dal Ben

Debora de Hollanda Souza

Jessica F Hay

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Language learners can rely on phonological and semantic information to learn novel words. Using a cross-situational word learning paradigm, we explored the role of phonotactic probabilities on word learning in ambiguous contexts. Brazilian-Portuguese speaking adults (N = 30) were exposed to two sets of word-object pairs. Words from one set of labels had slightly higher phonotactic probabilities than words from the other set. By tracking co-occurrences of words and objects, participants were able to learn word-object mappings similarly across both sets. Our findings contrast with studies showing a facilitative effect of phonotactic probability on word learning in non-ambiguous contexts.

Citing Articles

Speech Segmentation and Cross-Situational Word Learning in Parallel.

Dal Ben R, Prequero I, Souza D, Hay J Open Mind (Camb). 2023; 7:510-533.

PMID: 37637304 PMC: 10449405. DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00095.

What have we learned from 15 years of research on cross-situational word learning? A focused review.

Roembke T, Simonetti M, Koch I, Philipp A Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1175272.

PMID: 37546430 PMC: 10400455. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1175272.

References

Finn A, Hudson Kam C . The curse of knowledge: first language knowledge impairs adult learners' use of novel statistics for word segmentation. Cognition. 2008; 108(2):477-99. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.04.002. View

McGregor K, Rost G, Arenas R, Farris-Trimble A, Stiles D . Children with ASD can use gaze in support of word recognition and learning. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2013; 54(7):745-53. PMC: 4232219. DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12073. View

Graf Estes K, Bowen S . Learning about sounds contributes to learning about words: effects of prosody and phonotactics on infant word learning. J Exp Child Psychol. 2012; 114(3):405-17. PMC: 3570690. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2012.10.002. View

Vlach H, DeBrock C . Remember dax? Relations between children's cross-situational word learning, memory, and language abilities. J Mem Lang. 2017; 93:217-230. PMC: 5425170. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2016.10.001. View

Gonzalez-Gomez N, Poltrock S, Nazzi T . A "bat" is easier to learn than a "tab": effects of relative phonotactic frequency on infant word learning. PLoS One. 2013; 8(3):e59601. PMC: 3603888. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059601. View

Yurovsky D, Frank M . An integrative account of constraints on cross-situational learning. Cognition. 2015; 145:53-62. PMC: 4661069. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.07.013. View

Vitevitch M, Luce P . A web-based interface to calculate phonotactic probability for words and nonwords in English. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. 2005; 36(3):481-7. PMC: 2553700. DOI: 10.3758/bf03195594. View

Dal Ben R, Souza D, Hay J . When statistics collide: The use of transitional and phonotactic probability cues to word boundaries. Mem Cognit. 2021; 49(7):1300-1310. PMC: 9651140. DOI: 10.3758/s13421-021-01163-4. View

Graf Estes K, Edwards J, Saffran J . Phonotactic constraints on infant word learning. Infancy. 2011; 16(2):180-197. PMC: 3032547. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2010.00046.x. View

10.

Penaloza C, Mirman D, Cardona P, Juncadella M, Martin N, Laine M . Cross-situational word learning in aphasia. Cortex. 2017; 93:12-27. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.04.020. View

11.

Yu C, Smith L . Rapid word learning under uncertainty via cross-situational statistics. Psychol Sci. 2007; 18(5):414-20. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01915.x. View

12.

Saffran J . Sounds and meanings working together: Word learning as a collaborative effort. Lang Learn. 2014; 64(Suppl 2):106-120. PMC: 4155762. DOI: 10.1111/lang.12057. View

13.

Storkel H, Bontempo D, Aschenbrenner A, Maekawa J, Lee S . The effect of incremental changes in phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on word learning by preschool children. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2013; 56(5):1689-700. PMC: 4049320. DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2013/12-0245). View

14.

Smith L, Suanda S, Yu C . The unrealized promise of infant statistical word-referent learning. Trends Cogn Sci. 2014; 18(5):251-8. PMC: 4009695. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.02.007. View

15.

Cristia A . Can infants learn phonology in the lab? A meta-analytic answer. Cognition. 2017; 170:312-327. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.09.016. View

16.

Benitez V, Saffran J . Two for the price of one: Concurrent learning of words and phonotactic regularities from continuous speech. PLoS One. 2021; 16(6):e0253039. PMC: 8195377. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253039. View

17.

Peirce J, Gray J, Simpson S, Macaskill M, Hochenberger R, Sogo H . PsychoPy2: Experiments in behavior made easy. Behav Res Methods. 2019; 51(1):195-203. PMC: 6420413. DOI: 10.3758/s13428-018-01193-y. View

18.

Fitneva S, Christiansen M . Looking in the wrong direction correlates with more accurate word learning. Cogn Sci. 2011; 35(2):367-80. DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01156.x. View

19.

Steber S, Rossi S . So young, yet so mature? Electrophysiological and vascular correlates of phonotactic processing in 18-month-olds. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2020; 43:100784. PMC: 7184260. DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100784. View

20.

Fitneva S, Christiansen M, Monaghan P . From sound to syntax: phonological constraints on children's lexical categorization of new words. J Child Lang. 2008; 36(5):967-97. DOI: 10.1017/S0305000908009252. View