ERIC Number: EJ1302266
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jul
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
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ISSN: EISSN-1551-6709
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Cross-Situational Learning from Ambiguous Egocentric Input Is a Continuous Process: Evidence Using the Human Simulation Paradigm
Zhang, Yayun; Yurovsky, Daniel; Yu, Chen
Cognitive Science, v45 n7 e13010 Jul 2021
Recent laboratory experiments have shown that both infant and adult learners can acquire word-referent mappings using cross-situational statistics. The vast majority of the work on this topic has used unfamiliar objects presented on neutral backgrounds as the visual contexts for word learning. However, these laboratory contexts are much different than the real-world contexts in which learning occurs. Thus, the feasibility of generalizing cross-situational learning beyond the laboratory is in question. Adapting the Human Simulation Paradigm, we conducted a series of experiments examining cross-situational learning from children's egocentric videos captured during naturalistic play. Focusing on individually ambiguous naming moments that naturally occur during toy play, we asked how statistical learning unfolds in real time through accumulating cross-situational statistics in naturalistic contexts. We found that even when learning situations were individually ambiguous, learners' performance gradually improved over time. This improvement was driven in part by learners' use of partial knowledge acquired from previous learning situations, even when they had not yet discovered correct word-object mappings. These results suggest that word learning is a continuous process by means of real-time information integration.
Descriptors: Cognitive Mapping, Language Acquisition, Linguistic Input, Generalization, Learning Processes, Vocabulary Development, Ambiguity (Context), Learning Experience, Cognitive Processes
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
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Language: English
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