Actively Learning Object Names Across Ambiguous Situations

Abstract

Previous research shows that people can use the co-occurrence of words and objects in ambiguous situations (i.e., containing multiple words and objects) to learn word meanings during a brief passive training period (Yu & Smith, 2007). However, learners in the world are not completely passive but can affect how their environment is structured by moving their heads, eyes, and even objects. These actions can indicate attention to a language teacher, who may then be more likely to name the attended objects. Using a novel active learning paradigm in which learners choose which four objects they would like to see named on each successive trial, this study asks whether active learning is superior to passive learning in a cross-situational word learning context. Finding that learners perform better in active learning, we investigate the strategies and discover that most learners use immediate repetition to disambiguate pairings. Unexpectedly, we find that learners who repeat only one pair per trial-an easy way to infer this pair-perform worse than those who repeat multiple pairs per trial. Using a working memory extension to an associative model of word learning with uncertainty and familiarity biases, we investigate individual differences that correlate with these assorted strategies.

An integrative account of constraints on cross-situational learning

“…This framework allowed us to estimate the effects of these constraints on learning to find the model that best it the data—one intermediate between the two extreme poles of parallel statistical accumulation and single-referent tracking. This unifying account provides a route by which both hypotheses and sensitivity to statistics can make complementary contributions to word learning (Waxman & Gelman, 2009; Kachergis et al, 2013). …”

Tracking Multiple Statistics: Simultaneous Learning of Object Names and Categories in English and Mandarin Speakers

“…Thus, participants are required to keep track of co‐occurrences between the two. Numerous studies have demonstrated that human learners are capable of tracking co‐occurring information across multiple learning trials to disambiguate between consistent and inconsistent co‐occurrences and ultimately build correct word–referent mappings (e.g., Kachergis, Yu, & Shiffrin, ; Smith, Smith, & Blythe, ; Suanda & Namy, ; Yu & Smith, ; Yurovsky, Yu, & Smith, ). This study expands upon previous research by testing whether adult learners can extract multiple levels of statistical regularities to learn object names and categories concurrently.…”

Remember dax? Relations between children’s cross-situational word learning, memory, and language abilities

“…This behavior is commonly termed cross-situational word learning (CSWL) . Over the last 10 years, there has been significant growth in research on children’s CSWL (Scott & Fisher, 2012; Smith & Yu, 2008, 2013; Suanda, Mugwanya, & Namy, 2014; Vlach & Johnson, 2013; Vouloumanos & Werker, 2009; Yu & Smith, 2011) and adult and computational models of children’s CSWL (Fazly, Alishahi, & Stevenson, 2010; Fitneva & Christiansen, 2011; Kachergis, Yu, & Shiffrin, 2013; Medina, Snedeker, Trueswell, & Gleitman, 2011; Smith, Smith, & Blythe, 2011; Trueswell, Medina, Hafri, & Gleitman, 2013; Vlach & Sandhofer, 2014; Yu & Smith, 2007, 2012; Yurovsky & Frank, 2015; Yurovsky, Yu, & Smith, 2013). …”