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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Laurence WhiteORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2018 The Author(s). The hypothesis that known words can serve as anchors for discovering new words in connected speech has computational and empirical support. However, evidence for how the bootstrapping effect of known words interacts with other mechanisms of lexical acquisition, such as statistical learning, is incomplete. In 3 experiments, we investigated the consequences of introducing a known word in an artificial language with no segmentation cues other than cross-syllable transitional probabilities. We started with an artificial language containing 4 trisyllabic novel words and observed standard above-chance performance in a subsequent recognition memory task. We then replaced 1 of the 4 novel words with a real word (tomorrow) and noted improved segmentation of the other 3 novel words. This improvement was maintained when the real word was a different length to the novel words (philosophy), ruling out an explanation based on metrical expectation. The improvement was also maintained when the word was added to the 4 original novel words rather than replacing 1 of them. Together, these results show that known words in an otherwise meaningless stream serve as anchors for discovering new words. In interpreting the results, we contrast a mechanism where the lexical boost is merely the consequence of attending to the edges of known words, with a mechanism where known words enhance sensitivity to transitional probabilities more generally.
Author(s): Palmer SD, Hutson J, White L, Mattys SL
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition
Year: 2019
Volume: 45
Issue: 1
Pages: 139-146
Print publication date: 01/01/2019
Online publication date: 28/06/2018
Acceptance date: 14/01/2018
Date deposited: 22/05/2019
ISSN (print): 0278-7393
ISSN (electronic): 1939-1285
Publisher: American Psychological Association
URL: https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000567
DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000567
PubMed id: 29952630
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