\n
Phonotactic patterns are easier to learn in the lab when they are simple and systematic
\nin terms of phonetic features (e.g., LaRiviere et al. 1974, Saffran & Thiessen 2003, Kuo
\n2009, Wilson 2003, Moreton 2008). This is true in two ways: A category contrast is
\neasier if it is defined by possession of a specific feature (paradigmatic simplicity,
\ne.g. [p t k]\/[b d g] rather than [p d k]\/[b t g]), and also if it is characterized by
\nwithin-stimulus dependencies between instances of the same feature rather than of
\ndifferent features (syntagmatic simplicity, e.g., height harmony rather than height-voice
\ncorrelation). Both biases are important to linguists because of their possible impact on
\nnatural-language typology. This talk presents evidence for syntagmatic simplicity bias,
\nand discusses the relationship between paradigmatic and syntagmatic simplicity bias, in
\nconnection with theories of general human and non-human category learning, and of
\nphonotactic pattern learning.<\/P><\/p>\n
Although paradigmatic simplicity bias is consistent with what is known about human
\ncategory learning in other domains (Shepard et al. 1961, Nosofsky et al. 1994),
\nsyntagmatic simplicity bias has not been addressed. Paradigmatic simplicity bias in
\nnon-linguistic domains can be accounted for by error-driven learning in which constraints
\ncompete for influence on the basis of how well they explain unexpected data (the “delta
\nrule”, Gluck & Bower 1988). The same learning rule is used in Maximum Entropy (Jaeger
\n2004), Harmonic Grammar (Boersma and Pater 2008), and Stochastic OT (Boersma 1997,
\nBoersma & Hayes 2001), resulting in the same bias (Pater et al. 2008).<\/P><\/p>\n
These results can be extended to account for syntagmatic simplicity bias, *if* there is a
\nguarantee that the constraint set provides more-general constraints only for
\nfeaturally-simpler within-stimulus dependencies. But evidence from both the lab and
\nnatural language suggests that constraints can also be induced from phonological data
\n(Hayes et al. 2009). This talk will present a model of supervised phonotactic learning
\nin which constraint induction is restricted by Feature-Geometric constraint schemas which
\nsupport general constraints only for featurally-simple between- and within-stimulus
\ndependencies, while still allowing great flexibility in the formulation of constraints.
\nThe model implements the delta rule in Harmonic Grammar as an evolutionary competition
\namong constraints which reproduce with variation and selection, so that constraint
\ninduction and ranking (weighting) happen simultaneously. The model correctly predicts
\nsuperior acquisition of syntagmatically- and paradigmatically-simple patterns.
\nDiscussion will focus on alternative models of category learning and phonotactic learning.<\/P>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Speaker: Elliott Moreton (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) Time: Friday, April 9, 2010, 3:30pm-5pm Location: 32-141 Title: Connecting paradigmatic and syntagmatic simplicity bias in phonotactic learning Phonotactic patterns are easier to learn in the lab when they are simple and systematic in terms of phonetic features (e.g., LaRiviere et al. 1974, Saffran & Thiessen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-talks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1453,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions\/1453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ling-phil.mit.edu\/whamit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}