Cognitive architectures and language acquisition: A case study in pronoun comprehension

Jacolien van Rij*, Hedderik van Rijn, Petra Hendriks

*Corresponding author voor dit werk

OnderzoeksoutputAcademicpeer review

60 Citaten (Scopus)

Samenvatting

In this paper we discuss a computational cognitive model of children's poor performance on pronoun interpretation (the so-called Delay of Principle B Effect, or DPBE). This cognitive model is based on a theoretical account that attributes the DPBE to children's inability as hearers to also take into account the speaker's perspective. The cognitive model predicts that child hearers are unable to do so because their speed of linguistic processing is too limited to perform this second step in interpretation. We tested this hypothesis empirically in a psycholinguistic study, in which we slowed down the speech rate to give children more time for interpretation, and in a computational simulation study. The results of the two studies confirm the predictions of our model. Moreover, these studies show that embedding a theory of linguistic competence in a cognitive architecture allows for the generation of detailed and testable predictions with respect to linguistic performance.

Originele taal-2English
Pagina's (van-tot)731-766
Aantal pagina's36
TijdschriftJournal of Child Language
Volume37
Nummer van het tijdschrift3
DOI's
StatusPublished - jun.-2010

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