Monaghan Padraic
Department of Psychology, Lancaster University.
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
Top Cogn Sci. 2017 Jan;9(1):21-34. doi: 10.1111/tops.12239. Epub 2016 Dec 18.
There is substantial variation in language experience, yet there is surprising similarity in the language structure acquired. Constraints on language structure may be external modulators that result in this canalization of language structure, or else they may derive from the broader, communicative environment in which language is acquired. In this paper, the latter perspective is tested for its adequacy in explaining robustness of language learning to environmental variation. A computational model of word learning from cross-situational, multimodal information was constructed and tested. Key to the model's robustness was the presence of multiple, individually unreliable information sources to support learning. This "degeneracy" in the language system has a detrimental effect on learning, compared to a noise-free environment, but has a critically important effect on acquisition of a canalized system that is resistant to environmental noise in communication.
语言经历存在显著差异，但所习得的语言结构却有着惊人的相似性。对语言结构的限制可能是导致语言结构这种固化的外部调节因素，或者它们可能源自更广泛的语言习得交流环境。在本文中，将检验后一种观点在解释语言学习对环境变化的稳健性方面是否充分。构建并测试了一个从跨情境、多模态信息中学习单词的计算模型。该模型稳健性的关键在于存在多个单独不可靠的信息源来支持学习。与无噪声环境相比，语言系统中的这种“简并性”对学习有不利影响，但对获得一个在交流中能抵御环境噪声的固化系统有着至关重要的作用。
