Haskins Publications

Number	1509
Year	2008
Drawer	27
Entry Date	10/22/2008
Authors	Mirman, D., Magnuson, J.S., Estes, K.G. & Dixon, J.A.
Contact
Publication	Cognition, V. 108, pp. 271-280.
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL1509.pdf
Abstract	Many studies have shown that listeners can segment words from running speech based on conditional probabilities of syllable transitions, suggesting that this statistical learning could be foundational component of language learning. However, few studies have shown a direct link between statistical segmentation and word learning. We examined this possible link in adults by following a statistical segmentation exposure phase with an artificial lexicon learning phase. Participants were able to learn all novel object-label pairings, but pairings were learned faster when labels contained high probability (word-like) or non-occurring syllable transitions from the statistical segmentation phase than when they contained low probability (boundary-straddling) syllable transitions. This suggests that, for adults, labels inconsistent with expectations based on statistical learning are harder to learn than consistent or neutral labels. In contrast, a previous study found that infants learn consistent labels, but not inconsistent or neutral labels.
Notes