Combining Optimality Theory and a Cognitive Architecture

Misker, Jan M. V.; Anderson, John R.

doi:10.7282/t3mp518g

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…That is, *Complex possesses a distinct ranking in Spanish and English, being of a relative higher rank in the former than the latter (8). This simple distinction accounts for the resulting phonotactics of both languages, as can be seen in Tables 2 and 3 (loosely adapted from Misker & Anderson 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilinguals have a single computational system but two compartmentalized phonological grammars: Evidence from code-switching

Gosselin

2022

Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics

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Classic linguistic models, such as Chomsky’s minimalist schematization of the human language faculty, were typically based on a ‘monolingual ideal’. More recently, models have been extended to bilingual cognition. For instance, MacSwan (2000) posited that bilinguals possess a single syntactic computational system and, crucially, two (or more) phonological grammars. The current paper examines this possible architecture of the bilingual language faculty by using code-switching data, since this type of speech is unique to bilingual and multilingual individuals. Specifically, the natural speech Maria, a habitual Spanish-English code-switcher from the Bangor Miami Corpus, was examined. For the interface of phonology, an analysis was completed on the frequency of syllabic structures used by Maria. Phonotactics were examined as Spanish and English impose differential restrictions on complex onsets and codas. The results indicated that Maria’s language of use impacted the phonotactics of her speech, but that the context of use (unilingual or code-switched) did not. This suggests that Maria was alternating between two independent phonological grammars when she was code-switching. For the interface of morphosyntax, syntactic dependencies within Maria’s code-switched speech and past literature were consulted. The evidence illustrates that syntactic dependencies are indeed established within code-switched sentences, indicating that such constructions are derived from a single syntactic subset. Thus, the quantitative and qualitative results from this paper wholly support MacSwan’s original conjectures regarding the bilingual language faculty: bilingual cognition appears to be composed of a single computational system which builds multi-language syntactic structures, and more than one phonological grammar.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilinguals have a single computational system but two compartmentalized phonological grammars: Evidence from code-switching

Gosselin

2022

Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics

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The Newell Test for a theory of cognition

2003

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Newell (1980; 1990) proposed that cognitive theories be developed in an effort to satisfy multiple criteria and to avoid theoretical myopia. He provided two overlapping lists of 13 criteria that the human cognitive architecture would have to satisfy in order to be functional. We have distilled these into 12 criteria: flexible behavior, real-time performance, adaptive behavior, vast knowledge base, dynamic behavior, knowledge integration, natural language, learning, development, evolution, and brain realization. There would be greater theoretical progress if we evaluated theories by a broad set of criteria such as these and attended to the weaknesses such evaluations revealed. To illustrate how theories can be evaluated we apply these criteria to both classical connectionism (McClelland & Rumelhart 1986; Rumelhart & McClelland 1986b) and the ACT-R theory (Anderson & Lebiere 1998). The strengths of classical connectionism on this test derive from its intense effort in addressing empirical phenomena in such domains as language and cognitive development. Its weaknesses derive from its failure to acknowledge a symbolic level to thought. In contrast, ACT-R includes both symbolic and subsymbolic components. The strengths of the ACT-R theory derive from its tight integration of the symbolic component with the subsymbolic component. Its weaknesses largely derive from its failure, as yet, to adequately engage in intensive analyses of issues related to certain criteria on Newell's list.

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Optimality Theory and Human Sentence Processing: Towards a Cross-Modular Analysis of Coordination

Hoeks¹,

Hendriks²

2011

Journal of Cognitive Science

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Combining Optimality Theory and a Cognitive Architecture

Cited by 3 publications

References 6 publications

Bilinguals have a single computational system but two compartmentalized phonological grammars: Evidence from code-switching

Bilinguals have a single computational system but two compartmentalized phonological grammars: Evidence from code-switching

The Newell Test for a theory of cognition

Optimality Theory and Human Sentence Processing: Towards a Cross-Modular Analysis of Coordination

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