Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning
Adults, infants, and other species are able to learn and generalize abstract patterns from sequentially presented stimuli. Rule learning of this type may be involved in children's acquisition of linguistic structure, but the nature of the mechanisms underlying these abilities is unknown. While...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Taylor & Francis
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88534 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5912-883X |
| _version_ | 1826189604375494656 |
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| author | Frank, Michael C. Gibson, Edward A. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Frank, Michael C. Gibson, Edward A. |
| author_sort | Frank, Michael C. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Adults, infants, and other species are able to learn and generalize abstract patterns from sequentially presented stimuli. Rule learning of this type may be involved in children's acquisition of linguistic structure, but the nature of the mechanisms underlying these abilities is unknown. While inferences regarding the capabilities of these mechanisms are commonly made based on the pattern of successes and failures in simple artificial-language rule-learning tasks, failures may be driven by memory limitations rather than intrinsic limitations on the kinds of computations that learners can perform. Here we show that alleviating memory constraints on adult learners through concurrent visual presentation of stimuli allowed them to succeed in learning regularities in three difficult artificial rule-learning experiments where participants had previously failed to learn via sequential auditory presentation. These results suggest that memory constraints, rather than intrinsic limitations on learning, may be a parsimonious explanation for many previously reported failures. We argue that future work should attempt to characterize the role of memory constraints in natural and artificial language learning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:18:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/88534 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:18:16Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/885342022-09-30T08:52:30Z Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning Frank, Michael C. Gibson, Edward A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Gibson, Edward A. Adults, infants, and other species are able to learn and generalize abstract patterns from sequentially presented stimuli. Rule learning of this type may be involved in children's acquisition of linguistic structure, but the nature of the mechanisms underlying these abilities is unknown. While inferences regarding the capabilities of these mechanisms are commonly made based on the pattern of successes and failures in simple artificial-language rule-learning tasks, failures may be driven by memory limitations rather than intrinsic limitations on the kinds of computations that learners can perform. Here we show that alleviating memory constraints on adult learners through concurrent visual presentation of stimuli allowed them to succeed in learning regularities in three difficult artificial rule-learning experiments where participants had previously failed to learn via sequential auditory presentation. These results suggest that memory constraints, rather than intrinsic limitations on learning, may be a parsimonious explanation for many previously reported failures. We argue that future work should attempt to characterize the role of memory constraints in natural and artificial language learning. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF DDRIG #0746251) United States. Department of Education (Jacob K. Javits Graduate Fellowship) 2014-08-05T14:20:48Z 2014-08-05T14:20:48Z 2011-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1547-5441 1547-3341 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88534 Frank, Michael C., and Edward Gibson. “Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning.” Language Learning and Development 7, no. 2 (March 31, 2011): 130–148. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5912-883X en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2010.512522 Language Learning and Development Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Taylor & Francis MIT Web Domain |
| spellingShingle | Frank, Michael C. Gibson, Edward A. Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning |
| title | Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning |
| title_full | Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning |
| title_fullStr | Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning |
| title_short | Overcoming Memory Limitations in Rule Learning |
| title_sort | overcoming memory limitations in rule learning |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88534 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5912-883X |
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