Linguistics Colloquium: Statistics meets syntax: Tapping into learning biases in the lab.

a talk by Dr. Jennifer Culbertson

Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:30 PM to 8:45 PM EST
#3300

Abstract: It has long been claimed that language acquisition is facilitated by a set of biases which limit the space of hypotheses learners entertain. Recent research also suggests that learners can take advantage of the rich statistical properties of the input. This paper presents two artificial language learning experiments showing that adults acquiring new word order patterns exhibit learning biases in line with substantive constraints on order in phrases containing adjectives, numerals and nouns. However, input statistics also play a clear role in determining ordering preferences; learners are more likely to use orders associated with high transitional probabilities in the input.

Hosted by GMU Linguistics Club.

Sponsored by GMU Linguistics Program.