Cross-situational Learning Task Research Articles

The Relation Between Attention, Inhibition and Word Learning in Young Children

In their natural environments, children usually see several novel objects while they hear the labels for these objects, making it difficult for them to know exactly which objects these words refer to. This referential ambiguity problem can be alleviated through selective attention and inhibitory control because a child who focuses on plausible referents while inhibiting irrelevant ones during object labelling has a higher chance of identifying the intended referent. The present study examined this hypothesis by testing 3.5- to 4.5-year-old children. In particular, we examined the links between children’s word learning (a cross-situational learning task), selective attention (flanker task), inhibitory control (day-night Stroop task) while controlling for working memory (Corsi block task). We found that children learned the novel word-object associations and completed the cognitive control tasks successfully. However, we did not find any association between word learning and cognitive control or memory span. We argue that the lack of a significant association between cognitive control and word learning may be indicative of a more exploratory style of learning in young children.

Event-related potential studies of cross-situational word learning in four-year-old children

Young children learn word-referent links in cross-situational learning paradigms despite uncertainty as to a given word’s correct referent on individual exposures. However, the semantic status of these word-referent links is unknown. Here, we used a novel event-related potential (ERP) testing approach to investigate whether children showed electrophysiological signatures of semantic representations following a typical cross-situational learning paradigm. In Study 1, 20 4-year-old children (mean age: 51.35 months) learned eight new word-object pairs in a cross-situational learning task which included familiar object labeling before training. Then, they completed an ERP task which involved seeing pictures of the novel objects and then hearing words that were either congruent or incongruent with the word-referent association that was trained. Results showed a robust N400 ERP effect, thereby providing evidence for having acquired a semantic representation during the cross-situational learning paradigm. Children also showed good performance on a comprehension test approximately 20 min after training. In a second study, a different sample of 20 4-year-old children (mean age: 52 months) completed the same cross-situational task but without the initial familiar word pretraining. Here, we did not see the N400 effect we saw in Study 1, but children still showed good performance on the delayed comprehension test. We conclude that rapid semantic encoding can occur during cross-situational learning, but that pretraining on the structure of the paradigm may be critical for facilitating that encoding. We speculate on the mechanisms by which pretraining might have effects and discuss the implications of these findings for early word learning.

Observing and Modeling Developing Knowledge and Uncertainty during Cross-situational Word Learning.

Being able to learn word meanings across multiple scenes consisting of multiple words and referents (i.e., cross-situationally) is thought to be important for language acquisition. The ability has been studied in infants, children, and adults, and yet there is much debate about the basic storage and retrieval mechanisms that operate during cross-situational word learning. It has been difficult to uncover the learning mechanics in part because the standard experimental paradigm, which presents a few words and objects on each of a series of training trials, measures learning only at the end of training, after several occurrences of each word-object pair. Diverse models are able to match the final level of performance of the standard paradigm, while the rich history and context of the learning trajectories remain obscured. This study examines accuracy and uncertainty over time in a version of the cross-situational learning task in which words are tested throughout training, as well as in a final test. With similar levels of performance to the standard task, we examine how well the online response trajectories match recent hypothesis- and association-based computational models of word learning.eing able to learn word meanings across multiple scenes consisting of multiple words and referents (i.e., cross-situationally) is thought to be important for language acquisition. The ability has been studied in infants, children, and adults, and yet there is much debate about the basic storage and retrieval mechanisms that operate during cross-situational word learning. It has been difficult to uncover the learning mechanics in part because the standard experimental paradigm, which presents a few words and objects on each of a series of training trials, measures learning only at the end of training, after several occurrences of each word-object pair. Diverse models are able to match the final level of performance of the standard paradigm, while the rich history and context of the learning trajectories remain obscured. This study examines accuracy and uncertainty over time in a version of the cross-situational learning task in which words are tested throughout training, as well as in a final test. With similar levels of performance to the standard task, we examine how well the online response trajectories match recent hypothesis- and association-based computational models of word learning.B.

Developmental Changes in Cross-Situational Word Learning: The Inverse Effect of Initial Accuracy.

Intuitively, the accuracy of initial word-referent mappings should be positively correlated with the outcome of learning. Yet recent evidence suggests an inverse effect of initial accuracy in adults, whereby greater accuracy of initial mappings is associated with poorer outcomes in a cross-situational learning task. Here, we examine the impact of initial accuracy on 4-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and adults. For half of the participants most word-referent mappings were initially correct and for the other half most mappings were initially incorrect. Initial accuracy was positively related to learning outcomes in 4-year-olds, had no effect on 10-year-olds' learning, and was inversely related to learning outcomes in adults. Examination of item learning patterns revealed item interdependence for adults and 4-year-olds but not 10-year-olds. These findings point to a qualitative change in language learning processes over development.