Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference

Abstract The way infants learn language is a highly complex adaptive behavior. This behavior chiefly relies on the ability to extract information from the speech they hear and combine it with information from the external environment. Most theories assume that this ability critically hinges on the r...

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Autores principales:	Guanghao You, Balthasar Bickel, Moritz M. Daum, Sabine Stoll
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/15242f33711f44ffbf12ceface091968
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:15242f33711f44ffbf12ceface0919682021-12-02T18:51:52ZChild-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference10.1038/s41598-021-95392-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/15242f33711f44ffbf12ceface0919682021-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95392-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The way infants learn language is a highly complex adaptive behavior. This behavior chiefly relies on the ability to extract information from the speech they hear and combine it with information from the external environment. Most theories assume that this ability critically hinges on the recognition of at least some syntactic structure. Here, we show that child-directed speech allows for semantic inference without relying on explicit structural information. We simulate the process of semantic inference with machine learning applied to large text collections of two different types of speech, child-directed speech versus adult-directed speech. Taking the core meaning of causality as a test case, we find that in child-directed speech causal meaning can be successfully inferred from simple co-occurrences of neighboring words. By contrast, semantic inference in adult-directed speech fundamentally requires additional access to syntactic structure. These results suggest that child-directed speech is ideally shaped for a learner who has not yet mastered syntactic structure.Guanghao YouBalthasar BickelMoritz M. DaumSabine StollNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Guanghao You Balthasar Bickel Moritz M. Daum Sabine Stoll Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference
description	Abstract The way infants learn language is a highly complex adaptive behavior. This behavior chiefly relies on the ability to extract information from the speech they hear and combine it with information from the external environment. Most theories assume that this ability critically hinges on the recognition of at least some syntactic structure. Here, we show that child-directed speech allows for semantic inference without relying on explicit structural information. We simulate the process of semantic inference with machine learning applied to large text collections of two different types of speech, child-directed speech versus adult-directed speech. Taking the core meaning of causality as a test case, we find that in child-directed speech causal meaning can be successfully inferred from simple co-occurrences of neighboring words. By contrast, semantic inference in adult-directed speech fundamentally requires additional access to syntactic structure. These results suggest that child-directed speech is ideally shaped for a learner who has not yet mastered syntactic structure.
format	article
author	Guanghao You Balthasar Bickel Moritz M. Daum Sabine Stoll
author_facet	Guanghao You Balthasar Bickel Moritz M. Daum Sabine Stoll
author_sort	Guanghao You
title	Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference
title_short	Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference
title_full	Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference
title_fullStr	Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference
title_full_unstemmed	Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference
title_sort	child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/15242f33711f44ffbf12ceface091968
work_keys_str_mv	AT guanghaoyou childdirectedspeechisoptimizedforsyntaxfreesemanticinference AT balthasarbickel childdirectedspeechisoptimizedforsyntaxfreesemanticinference AT moritzmdaum childdirectedspeechisoptimizedforsyntaxfreesemanticinference AT sabinestoll childdirectedspeechisoptimizedforsyntaxfreesemanticinference
_version_	1718377371126464512

Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference

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