{"pk":30496,"title":"A Computational Model Which Addresses Errors of Over-Generalization and Their Subsequent Disappearance in Early Child Language Acquisition","subtitle":null,"abstract":"The model discussed here is offered as a prototype of the use\nof a computational model to explore alternate hypotheses and to\nsuggest possible answers to some of the questions which have been\naddressed in the study of language acquisition. Why does not the\nchild end up with an overly generalized grammar or lexicon? There\nis much evidence concerning the kinds of generalizations and\nover-generalizations that children make. However if we permit no\novert and specific correction of the child's errors, then how is it\nthat errors of over-generalization do not persist into adult speech?\nOne answer to this question is proffered by attaching a system of\nweights to hypotheses. There are two related problems to be solved.\nSome mechanism in the model must allow erroneous hypotheses to be\ncorrected; in addition there must be a way that more mature\nconstructs can replace earlier ones. The model accomplishes these\ntwo tasks by means of a system of weights which represent confidence\nvalues and recency values. By this system more frequently matched\nconstructs are preferred over less frequently matched constructs,\nand more recent hypotheses are favored for testing. This learning\nparadigm is illustrated by a set of procedures for learning the past\ntense of verbs in English. The scheme has the advantage that for a\nperiod of time when confidence factors are approximately in balance\ntwo or more constructs can co-exist. Thus we need not talk of rules\nor individual cases which have been learned or have not yet been\nlearned but rather of a continuum in which rule schemas are either\nstrong or weak.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[],"section":"Presented Papers","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/13t3r4hz","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Jane","middle_name":"C.","last_name":"Hill","name_suffix":"","institution":"Smith College","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"1986-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/30496/galley/20345/download/"}]}