Monaghan, P, Donnelly, S, Alcock, K, Bidgood, A, Cain, K, Durrant, S, Frost, RLA, Jago, LS, Peter, MS, Pine, JM, Turnbull, H and Rowland, CF (2023) Learning to generalise but not segment an artificial language at 17 months predicts children’s language skills 3 years later. Cognitive Psychology, 147. ISSN 0010-0285

Preview

Text MonaghanEtAl(2023).pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

We investigated whether learning an artificial language at 17 months was predictive of children’s natural language vocabulary and grammar skills at 54 months. Children at 17 months listened to an artificial language containing non-adjacent dependencies, and were then tested on their learning to segment and to generalise the structure of the language. At 54 months, children were then tested on a range of standardised natural language tasks that assessed receptive and expressive vocabulary and grammar. A structural equation model demonstrated that learning the artificial language generalisation at 17 months predicted language abilities – a composite of vocabulary and grammar skills – at 54 months, whereas artificial language segmentation at 17 months did not predict language abilities at this age. Artificial language learning tasks – especially those that probe grammar learning – provide a valuable tool for uncovering the mechanisms driving children’s early language development.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing; 1701 Psychology; 1702 Cognitive Sciences; Experimental Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1139.2 Early childhood education
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	Elsevier
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	09 Oct 2023 11:25
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2023 11:30
DOI or ID number:	10.1016/j.cogpsych.2023.101607
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/21695

View Item