<OT> New Posting: ROA-905

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 905-0207

Learning to reason about speakers’ alternatives in sentence comprehension: A computational account

Petra Hendriks <P.Hendriks at rug.nl>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=905


Abstract:
We present a computational simulation study of the acquisition
of pronouns and reflexives. The computational simulation
is based on an Optimality Theory analysis, and is shown
to account for the well-known observation that in English
and many other languages the correct comprehension of pronouns
lags behind that of reflexives (the so-called Delay of Principle
B Effect). Comprehension is modelled as a two-step process
involving optimization from a given form to its corresponding
meaning followed by optimization from this meaning to its
corresponding form. This model is implemented using plausible
assumptions with respect to the cognitive architecture.
The computational simulation shows that lack of processing
speed causes the model to produce an output before both
steps of the comprehension process have been completed.
Because, according to the Optimality Theory analysis, the
adult interpretation of pronouns is dependent on reasoning
about alternative forms and hence on completion of both
steps of the comprehension process, whereas the interpretation
of reflexives is not, this results in comprehension errors
with pronouns but not with reflexives. We conclude that
speed of processing may be an essential factor in explaining
the Delay of Principle B Effect and other comprehension
delays in language acquisition.

Comments: With Hedderik van Rijn and Bea Valkenier. To appear in Lingua.
Keywords: Delay of Principle B Effect, language acquisition, Optimality Theory, bi-directional optimization, cognitive modelling, computational simulation
Areas: Language Acquisition
Type: Journal Article

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=905