Linking adult second language learning and diachronic change:a cautionary note

It has been suggested that the morphological complexity of a language is negatively correlated with the size of its population of speakers. This relationship may be driven by the proportion of non-native speakers, among other things, and reflects adaptations to learning constraints imposed by adult language learners. Here we sound a note of caution with respect to these claims by arguing that (a) morphological complexity is defined in somewhat contradictory ways and hence not straightforward to measure, and (b) there is insufficient evidence to suggest that children’s cognitive limitations support mechanisms beneficial for learning of complex morphology relative to adults. We suggest that considering the informational value of morphological cues may be a better way to capture learnability of morphology. To settle the issue of how age related constraints on learning might impact language change, more cross-linguistic studies comparing learning trajectories of different second languages and laboratory experiments examining language transmission in children and adults are needed

How are exemplar representations transformed by encoding, retrieval, and explicit knowledge? A commentary on Ambridge (2020)

The radical exemplar model resonates with work on perceptual classification and categorization highlighting the role of exemplars in memory representations. Further development of the model requires acknowledgment of both the fleeting and fragile nature of perceptual representations and the gist-based, good-enough quality of long-term memory representations. Retrieval operations potentially serve as a mechanism for abstraction as representations of exemplars are distorted through reconstructive processes. As a framework applicable to both first and second language acquisition, the model needs to account for how explicit knowledge arises and its role in filtering input via selective attention

More is more in language learning:reconsidering the less-is-more hypothesis

The Less-is-More hypothesis was proposed to explain age-of-acquisition effects in first language (L1) acquisition and second language (L2) attainment. We scrutinize different renditions of the hypothesis by examining how learning outcomes are affected by (1) limited cognitive capacity, (2) reduced interference resulting from less prior knowledge, and (3) simplified language input. While there is little-to-no evidence of benefits of limited cognitive capacity, there is ample support for a More-is-More account linking enhanced capacity with better L1- and L2-learning outcomes, and reduced capacity with childhood language disorders. Instead, reduced prior knowledge (relative to adults) may afford children with greater flexibility in inductive inference; this contradicts the idea that children benefit from a more constrained hypothesis space. Finally, studies of childdirected speech (CDS) confirm benefits from less complex input at early stages, but also emphasize how greater lexical and syntactic complexity of the input confers benefits in L1-attainment

Distributional effects and individual differences in L2 morphology learning

Second language (L2) learning outcomes may depend on the structure of the input and learners’ cognitive abilities. This study tested whether less predictable input might facilitate learning and generalization of L2 morphology while evaluating contributions of statistical learning ability, nonverbal intelligence, phonological short-term memory, and verbal working memory. Over three sessions, 54 adults were exposed to a Russian case-marking paradigm with a balanced or skewed item distribution in the input. Whereas statistical learning ability and nonverbal intelligence predicted learning of trained items, only nonverbal intelligence also predicted generalization of case-marking inflections to new vocabulary. Neither measure of temporary storage capacity predicted learning. Balanced, less predictable input was associated with higher accuracy in generalization but only in the initial test session. These results suggest that individual differences in pattern extraction play a more sustained role in L2 acquisition than instructional manipulations that vary the predictability of lexical items in the input

Acquisition of gender agreement in Lithuanian:exploring the effect of diminutive usage in an elicited production task

This study examines Lithuanian children's acquisition of gender agreement using an elicited production task. Lithuanian is a richly inflected Baltic language, with two genders and seven cases. Younger (N=24, mean 3;1, 2;5–3;8) and older (N=24, mean 6;3, 5;6–6;9) children were shown pictures of animals and asked to describe them after hearing the animal's name. Animal names differed with respect to familiarity (novel vs. familiar), derivational status (diminutive vs. simplex) and gender (masculine vs. feminine). Analyses of gender-agreement errors based on adjective and pronoun usage indicated that younger children made more errors than older children, with errors more prevalent for novel animal names. For novel animals, and for feminine nouns, children produced fewer errors with nouns introduced in diminutive form. These results complement findings from several Slavic languages (Russian, Serbian and Polish) that diminutives constitute a salient cluster of word forms that may provide an entry point for the child's acquisition of noun morphology

Children’s tolerance of word-form variation

How much morphological variation can children tolerate when identifying familiar words? This is an important question in the context of the acquisition of richly inflected languages where identical word forms occur far less frequently than in English. To address this question, we compared children’s (N = 96, mean age 4;1, range 2;11–5;1) and adults’ (N = 96, mean age 21 years) tolerance of word-onset modifications (e.g., for stug: wug and wastug) and pseudoaffixes (e.g., kostug and stugko) in a labelextension task. Word-form modifications were repeated within each experiment to establish productive inflectional patterns. In two experiments, children and adults exhibited similar strategies: they were more tolerant of prefixes (wastug) than substitutions of initial consonants (wug), and more tolerant of suffixes (stugko) than prefixes (kostug). The findings point to word-learning strategies as being flexible and adaptive to morphological patterns in languages

Individual differences in the discrimination of novel speech sounds: effects of sex, temporal processing, musical and cognitive abilities

This study examined whether rapid temporal auditory processing, verbal working memory capacity, non-verbal intelligence, executive functioning, musical ability and prior foreign language experience predicted how well native English speakers (N = 120) discriminated Norwegian tonal and vowel contrasts as well as a non-speech analogue of the tonal contrast and a native vowel contrast presented over noise. Results confirmed a male advantage for temporal and tonal processing, and also revealed that temporal processing was associated with both non-verbal intelligence and speech processing. In contrast, effects of musical ability on non-native speech-sound processing and of inhibitory control on vowel discrimination were not mediated by temporal processing. These results suggest that individual differences in non-native speech-sound processing are to some extent determined by temporal auditory processing ability, in which males perform better, but are also determined by a host of other abilities that are deployed flexibly depending on the characteristics of the target sounds

Electroretinography in Dogs and Cats. Part I. Retinal Morphology and Physiology

Electroretinography is an important objective procedure that is used to assess the outer retina and follow the progression of and recovery from retinal disorders. This procedure is more sensitive than other diagnostic techniques, such as ophthalmoscopy, for determining subtle or early alterations in the outer retina. Electroretinography cannot, however, assess vision because an electroretinograpn (ERG) may be normal in dogs and cats with cortical blindness or early stages of glaucoma. If retinal dysfunction is known or suspected, an ERG may be necessary. This two-part presentation provides general practitioners with information about this relatively noninvasive electrodiagnostic procedure in order to assist them in assessing the need for referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist or neurologist. Part I reviews the morphologic and physiologic characteristics of the retina; Part II will examine electroretinographic technique, interpretations, and indications

Electroretinography in Dogs and Cats. Part II. Technique, Interpretation, and Indications

Electroretinography, a technique that objectively assesses the function of the retina, is used to evaluate the progression of retinal disorders. Part I of this two-part presentation discussed the morphologic and physiologic characteristics of the retina. The information presented in Part II can help practitioners determine when an electroretinogram (ERG) is recommended. In addition to the standard flash ERG, visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are useful for evaluating disorders that lead to blindness. The most common indications for electroretinography are presurgical evaluation of patients with cataracts, characterization of disorders that cause blindness, and identification of the extent of retinal damage caused by glaucoma. A flash ERG can only show changes that occur to the retina in advanced stages of glaucoma; whereas a pattern ERG (PERG) can record early, selective damage to ganglion cells in the retina