The Comparative Communication Laboratory
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Adult Research at the CCL | |
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adult studies at the CCL focus on statistical learning mechanisms that
have been implicated in language acquisition. Adult participants provide
a window to investigate the end-state of the language learner. That is,
if one is interested in developmental and comparative studies, it is useful
to be able to identify the extent to which language learning capabilities
remain and how they have been shaped by the input (e.g., differences between
monolinguals and bilinguals).
Thus, one of the goals of this research in our lab is to detail how statistical learning mechanisms operate in adults and how they differ from infants and non-human primates. For example, recent studies by Elissa Newport and Dick Aslin (University of Rochester) have suggested that there may be some fundamental differences in the types of computations performed by infant and adult learners. Together, we have collaborated on a project to delineate the possible source of these discrepancies by investigating the units over which statistics are computed for both infant and adult learners. 
Likewise, in collaboration with Jessica Maye (Northwestern University) we are in the process of investigating phonetic category learning. Previously we found that infants may be able to generalize their distributional learning by extracting an abstract phonetic feature. We are in the process of following-up on these findings. It will be essential to determine whether adult learners are capable of the same types of generalizations. This work has many exciting implications for theories of early language acquisition. One of the recent projects in the lab has been focused on using statistical learning methodologies to investigate bilingual language acquisition (see the Infant Lab page for more details). We have finished a study in which we discovered that monolingual adults are capable of parsing two artificial language streams, even when their statistics conflict, so long as they have an effective indexical cue (such as voice). Future experiments will look at other indexical cues, contextual effects, bilinguals, and the developmental trajectory of this ability. We have also recently concluded a study that looked at the role of inhibitory control in choosing a parsing strategy for an artificial speech stream. One of the future directions for this research will be to explore the intersection between general cognitive abilities and early language learning mechanisms. Relevant publications: Weiss, D.J. &
Gerfen, C. (2006) Language segmentation in a bilingual environment. Weiss, D.J. & Gerfen, C. (In review) Language segmentation in a bilingual environment. Weiss, D.J., Gerfen,
C., Mitchell, A., & Rizzo, W. (In review) The role of pauses and Newport, E, Weiss,
D.J., Wonnacott, L., and Aslin, R.N. (in prep) Statistical learning in
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