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Statistical Learning in a Natural Language by 8‐Month‐Old Infants
Author(s) -
Pelucchi Bruna,
Hay Jessica F.,
Saffran Jenny R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01290.x
Subject(s) - statistical learning , language acquisition , language development , psychology , natural language , natural (archaeology) , text segmentation , constructed language , speech segmentation , cognitive psychology , linguistics , computer science , natural language processing , artificial intelligence , developmental psychology , segmentation , mathematics education , philosophy , archaeology , history
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.