Dynamic Self‐Organization and Early Lexical Development in Children

In this study we present a self‐organizing connectionist model of early lexical development. We call this model DevLex‐II, based on the earlier DevLex model. DevLex‐II can simulate a variety of empirical patterns in children's acquisition of words. These include a clear vocabulary spurt, effect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Cognitive science 2007-07, Vol.31 (4), p.581-612
Main Authors:	Li, Ping, Zhao, Xiaowei, Mac Whinney, Brian
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Age Brain brain injury Child Development Child language. Acquisition and development Children Cognitive Processes development of language DevLex language Language Acquisition lexical development Linguistics Neural networks Phonology Production and comprehension processes Psycholinguistics Psychology of language Self Management self-organizing map Self‐organization Short Term Memory Vocabulary Development Vocabulary spurt Word Frequency Word learning word length
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Summary:	In this study we present a self‐organizing connectionist model of early lexical development. We call this model DevLex‐II, based on the earlier DevLex model. DevLex‐II can simulate a variety of empirical patterns in children's acquisition of words. These include a clear vocabulary spurt, effects of word frequency and length on age of acquisition, and individual differences as a function of phonological short‐term memory and associative capacity. Further results from lesioned models indicate developmental plasticity in the network's recovery from damage, in a non‐monotonic fashion. We attribute the network's abilities in accounting for lexical development to interactive dynamics in the learning process. In particular, variations displayed by the model in the rate and size of early vocabulary development are modulated by (a) input characteristics, such as word frequency and word length, (b) consolidation of lexical‐semantic representation, meaning‐form association, and phonological short‐term memory, and (c) delayed processes due to interactions among timing, severity, and recoverability of lesion. Together, DevLex and DevLex‐II provide an accurate computational account of early lexical development.
ISSN:	0364-0213 1551-6709