Input effects on the acquisition of a novel phrasal construction in 5year olds

Elizabeth Wonnacott; Jeremy K. Boyd; Jennifer Thomson; Adele E. Goldberg

doi:10.1016/j.jml.2011.11.004

Input effects on the acquisition of a novel phrasal construction in 5year olds

Elizabeth Wonnacott
, Jeremy K. Boyd
, Jennifer Thomson
, Adele E. Goldberg

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

54 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present experiments demonstrate that children as young as five years old (M=5:2) generalize beyond their input on the basis of minimal exposure to a novel argument structure construction. The novel construction that was used involved a non-English phrasal pattern: VN ₁N ₂, paired with a novel abstract meaning: N ₂ approaches N ₁. At the same time, we find that children are keenly sensitive to the input: they show knowledge of the construction after a single day of exposure but this grows stronger after 3days; also, children generalize more readily to new verbs when the input contains more than one verb.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	458-478
Number of pages	21
Journal	Journal of Memory and Language
Volume	66
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2011.11.004
State	Published - Apr 2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Language and Linguistics
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Linguistics and Language
Artificial Intelligence

Keywords

Artificial language learning
Novel construction learning
Statistical learning
Verb argument structures

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jml.2011.11.004

Cite this

@article{8900dca5ebcc465fb60e7d55443a2c9f,

title = "Input effects on the acquisition of a novel phrasal construction in 5year olds",

abstract = "The present experiments demonstrate that children as young as five years old (M=5:2) generalize beyond their input on the basis of minimal exposure to a novel argument structure construction. The novel construction that was used involved a non-English phrasal pattern: VN 1N 2, paired with a novel abstract meaning: N 2 approaches N 1. At the same time, we find that children are keenly sensitive to the input: they show knowledge of the construction after a single day of exposure but this grows stronger after 3days; also, children generalize more readily to new verbs when the input contains more than one verb.",

keywords = "Artificial language learning, Novel construction learning, Statistical learning, Verb argument structures",

author = "Elizabeth Wonnacott and Boyd, \{Jeremy K.\} and Jennifer Thomson and Goldberg, \{Adele E.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and an ESRC grant (Award Reference: RES-062-23-0983) awarded to the first author, an NICHD training fellowship (2-T32-HD055272A) and a Kavli Innovative Research Grant (2011-009) awarded to the second author, and an NSF grant (\# 0613227) and an Einstein fellowship from Berlin awarded to the final author. Thank you to Jacinth Greywoode for her help with data coding. Finally, we are very grateful to all the teachers, parents and children who made the research possible.",

year = "2012",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.jml.2011.11.004",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "66",

pages = "458--478",

journal = "Journal of Memory and Language",

issn = "0749-596X",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Input effects on the acquisition of a novel phrasal construction in 5year olds

AU - Wonnacott, Elizabeth

AU - Boyd, Jeremy K.

AU - Thomson, Jennifer

AU - Goldberg, Adele E.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and an ESRC grant (Award Reference: RES-062-23-0983) awarded to the first author, an NICHD training fellowship (2-T32-HD055272A) and a Kavli Innovative Research Grant (2011-009) awarded to the second author, and an NSF grant (# 0613227) and an Einstein fellowship from Berlin awarded to the final author. Thank you to Jacinth Greywoode for her help with data coding. Finally, we are very grateful to all the teachers, parents and children who made the research possible.

PY - 2012/4

Y1 - 2012/4

N2 - The present experiments demonstrate that children as young as five years old (M=5:2) generalize beyond their input on the basis of minimal exposure to a novel argument structure construction. The novel construction that was used involved a non-English phrasal pattern: VN 1N 2, paired with a novel abstract meaning: N 2 approaches N 1. At the same time, we find that children are keenly sensitive to the input: they show knowledge of the construction after a single day of exposure but this grows stronger after 3days; also, children generalize more readily to new verbs when the input contains more than one verb.

AB - The present experiments demonstrate that children as young as five years old (M=5:2) generalize beyond their input on the basis of minimal exposure to a novel argument structure construction. The novel construction that was used involved a non-English phrasal pattern: VN 1N 2, paired with a novel abstract meaning: N 2 approaches N 1. At the same time, we find that children are keenly sensitive to the input: they show knowledge of the construction after a single day of exposure but this grows stronger after 3days; also, children generalize more readily to new verbs when the input contains more than one verb.

KW - Artificial language learning

KW - Novel construction learning

KW - Statistical learning

KW - Verb argument structures

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84857688906

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84857688906#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.jml.2011.11.004

DO - 10.1016/j.jml.2011.11.004

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84857688906

SN - 0749-596X

VL - 66

SP - 458

EP - 478

JO - Journal of Memory and Language

JF - Journal of Memory and Language

IS - 3

ER -

Input effects on the acquisition of a novel phrasal construction in 5year olds

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this