Learning to generalise but not segment an artificial language at 17 months predicts children’s language skills 3 years later


Monaghan, Padraic, Donnelly, Seamus, Alcock, Katie, Bidgood, Amy, Cain, Kate, Durrant, Samantha, Frost, Rebecca, Jago, Lana, Peter, Michelle, Pine, Julian ORCID: 0000-0002-7077-9713 et al (show 2 more authors) (2023) Learning to generalise but not segment an artificial language at 17 months predicts children’s language skills 3 years later. Cognitive Psychology, 147. 101607-.

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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: Humans, Language, Language Development, Learning, Linguistics, Vocabulary, Child
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 05 Oct 2023 15:07
Last Modified: 09 Dec 2023 01:15
DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2023.101607
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2023.101607
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3173449
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