Abstract
When we encounter a new word, there are often multiple objects that the word might refer to [1]. Nonetheless, because names for concrete nouns are constant, we are able to learn them across successive encounters [2, 3]. This form of "cross-situational" learning may result from either associative mechanisms that gradually accumulate evidence for each word-object association [4, 5] or rapid propose-but-verify (PbV) mechanisms where only one hypothesized referent is stored for each word, which is either subsequently verified or rejected [6, 7]. Using model-based representation similarity analyses of fMRI data acquired during learning, we find evidence for learning mediated by a PbV mechanism. This learning may be underpinned by rapid pattern-separation processes in the hippocampus. Our findings shed light on the psychological and neural processes that support word learning, suggesting that adults rely on their episodic memory to track a limited number of word-object associations.
Highlights
We scanned adult participants as they performed a crosssituational learning task involving 9 novel associations between obscure objects and pseudowords
Learning names for abstract words is likely more complicated, cross-situational learning is thought to underpin the learning of name-object associations of concrete nouns during early childhood [4]
Learning events were grouped into 6 blocks and each of these was followed by a set of 9-alternative forced-choice (9-AFC) test trials to assess whether correct associations had been learned (Figure 1B)
Summary
We scanned adult participants as they performed a crosssituational learning task involving 9 novel associations between obscure objects and pseudowords. Participants saw three unfamiliar objects and heard their corresponding pseudowords (Figure 1A). There was no relationship between the location of the objects and word order. To learn the associations, information had to be carried over trials. Learning events were grouped into 6 blocks and each of these was followed by a set of 9-alternative forced-choice (9-AFC) test trials to assess whether correct associations had been learned (Figure 1B). To control for the visual and motor aspects of the task, a separate set of 9 word-object pairs were pre-learned before scanning and presented/tested in the same way as the to-be-learned words and objects. For a full description of the task, see STAR Methods
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