CAREER: Infants' Statistical Learning of Systems with Multiple Levels of Organization

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Languages have multiple levels of statistical structure. Certain sounds tend to co-occur in forming words (like the ''st'' sounds in ''stop'' and ''list''), certain words tend to appear together in forming phrases, and so on. It is well-established that infants and children learn these statistics (with apparent ease) in the course of learning their languages, but how these statistics contribute to language learning is an ongoing area of research. The answer to this question is key to understanding the human capacity for language. With support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Thiessen is investigating how infants discover the statistical information available in their linguistic environments. His hypothesis is that the statistics learned at one level of language structure (sounds, for example) are used to facilitate the learning of language structures at other levels (words and phrases, for example). To investigate this hypothesis, Dr. Thiessen is conducting a number of laboratory experiments that test the statistical learning abilities of infants and toddlers. Student research training will include a new class-based initiative in which undergraduates work in the community to provide education on language development to parents and daycare centers. The knowledge gained may suggest more effective ways of teaching second languages to adults, and better remediation techniques for children with developmental disorders that impede language learning.