Abstract

This paper reports two experiments using a modified artificial grammar paradigm to study the acquisition of generative knowledge. It employs a starship game and a computerized form of motherese to study acquisition of generative knowledge of a grammar. It was found that initial exposure to a small set of representative cases and an opportunity to organize the cases enhanced ability to generate grammatical strings. Neither seeing a large number of cases nor building a conceptual model of the grammar enhanced acquisition of generative knowledge. However, building a conceptual model did increase learners’ confidence in their ability to generate strings. The quality of strings generated by learners remained fairly constant across attempts, suggesting that their performance reflects true generative knowledge rather than memories of exemplars.

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