ERIC Number: EJ840094
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
Statistical Learning in a Natural Language by 8-Month-Old Infants
Pelucchi, Bruna; Hay, Jessica F.; Saffran, Jenny R.
Child Development, v80 n3 p674-685 May-Jun 2009
Numerous studies over the past decade support the claim that infants are equipped with powerful statistical language learning mechanisms. The primary evidence for statistical language learning in word segmentation comes from studies using artificial languages, continuous streams of synthesized syllables that are highly simplified relative to real speech. To what extent can these conclusions be scaled up to natural language learning? In the current experiments, English-learning 8-month-old infants' ability to track transitional probabilities in fluent infant-directed Italian speech was tested (N = 72). The results suggest that infants are sensitive to transitional probability cues in unfamiliar natural language stimuli, and support the claim that statistical learning is sufficiently robust to support aspects of real-world language acquisition.
Descriptors: Cues, Infants, Probability, Language Acquisition, Cognitive Processes, Learning Processes, English, Italian
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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