Deocampo Joanne A, Smith Gretchen N L, Kronenberger William G, Pisoni David B, Conway Christopher M
Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2018 Aug 14;49(3S):723-739. doi: 10.1044/2018_LSHSS-STLT1-17-0138.
Statistical learning-the ability to learn patterns in environmental input-is increasingly recognized as a foundational mechanism necessary for the successful acquisition of spoken language. Spoken language is a complex, serially presented signal that contains embedded statistical relations among linguistic units, such as phonemes, morphemes, and words, which represent the phonotactic and syntactic rules of language. In this review article, we first review recent work that demonstrates that, in typical language development, individuals who display better nonlinguistic statistical learning abilities also show better performance on different measures of language. We next review research findings that suggest that children who are deaf and use cochlear implants may have difficulties learning sequential input patterns, possibly due to auditory and/or linguistic deprivation early in development, and that the children who show better sequence learning abilities also display improved spoken language outcomes. Finally, we present recent findings suggesting that it may be possible to improve core statistical learning abilities with specialized training and interventions and that such improvements can potentially impact and facilitate the acquisition and processing of spoken language.
We conducted a literature search through various online databases including PsychINFO and PubMed, as well as including relevant review articles gleaned from the reference sections of other review articles used in this review. Search terms included various combinations of the following: sequential learning, sequence learning, statistical learning, sequence processing, procedural learning, procedural memory, implicit learning, language, computerized training, working memory training, statistical learning training, deaf, deafness, hearing impairment, hearing impaired, DHH, hard of hearing, cochlear implant(s), hearing aid(s), and auditory deprivation. To keep this review concise and clear, we limited inclusion to the foundational and most recent (2005-2018) relevant studies that explicitly included research or theoretical perspectives on statistical or sequential learning. We here summarize and synthesize the most recent and relevant literature to understanding and treating language delays in children using cochlear implants through the lens of statistical learning.
We suggest that understanding how statistical learning contributes to spoken language development is important for understanding some of the difficulties that children who are deaf and use cochlear implants might face and argue that it may be beneficial to develop novel language interventions that focus specifically on improving core foundational statistical learning skills.
统计学习——即从环境输入中学习模式的能力——日益被视为成功习得口语所必需的一种基础机制。口语是一种复杂的、按顺序呈现的信号，它包含语言单位（如音素、语素和单词）之间内在的统计关系，这些关系体现了语言的音位规则和句法规则。在这篇综述文章中，我们首先回顾近期的研究工作，这些研究表明，在典型的语言发展过程中，表现出更好的非语言统计学习能力的个体在不同的语言测量指标上也表现得更好。接下来，我们回顾研究结果，这些结果表明，使用人工耳蜗的失聪儿童可能在学习序列输入模式方面存在困难，这可能是由于发育早期的听觉和/或语言剥夺所致，并且表现出更好序列学习能力的儿童在口语发展方面也有更好的结果。最后，我们展示近期的研究结果，这些结果表明通过专门的训练和干预有可能提高核心统计学习能力，并且这种提高可能会潜在地影响并促进口语的习得和加工。
我们通过各种在线数据库进行文献检索，包括心理学文摘数据库（PsychINFO）和医学期刊数据库（PubMed），以及从本综述中使用的其他综述文章的参考文献部分收集的相关综述文章。检索词包括以下各项的各种组合：序列学习、顺序学习、统计学习、序列加工、程序学习、程序记忆、内隐学习、语言、计算机化训练、工作记忆训练、统计学习训练、失聪、耳聋、听力障碍、听力受损、听障儿童、重听、人工耳蜗、助听器以及听觉剥夺。为了使本综述简洁明了，我们将纳入范围限制在基础的和最新的（2005 - 2018年）相关研究，这些研究明确包含关于统计或序列学习的研究或理论观点。我们在此总结并综合最新的相关文献，以便从统计学习的角度理解和治疗使用人工耳蜗的儿童的语言延迟问题。
我们认为，理解统计学习如何促进口语发展对于理解使用人工耳蜗的失聪儿童可能面临的一些困难很重要，并主张开发专门针对提高核心基础统计学习技能的新型语言干预措施可能是有益的。
