Teaching Papa to Cha-Cha: How Change Magnitude, Temporal Contiguity, and Task Affect Alternation Learning
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Date
2020-02-27
Authors
Smolek, Amy
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
In this dissertation, we investigate how speakers produce wordforms they may not have heard before. Paradigm Uniformity (PU) is the cross-linguistic bias against stem changes, particularly large changes. We propose the Perseveration Hypothesis: Motor perseveration in the production system encourages copying from related wordforms. When this conflicts with paradigmatic associations requiring a change to the base, the change may be leveled, resulting in PU. Associations are more difficult to acquire when the forms are articulatorily dissimilar, and poorly-learned associations are a lesser obstacle to the perseveratory bias, which accounts for the stronger bias against large changes.
Participants trained on a miniature artificial language with labial palatalization (p→tʃi), a large change, produce the alternation much less often than participants trained on alveolar (t→tʃi) or velar (k→tʃi) palatalization. The difficulty arises from articulatory, rather than perceptual, dissimilarity: k→tʃi and g→dʒi are learned equally well despite differing in perceptual similarity, and the bias against large changes is observed in production but not in judgment. Ratings of labial palatalization improve as much post-training as do ratings of lingual palatalization, suggesting that participants learn what they should produce by acquiring product-oriented schemas, but are unable to acquire a paradigmatic labial-to-alveopalatal association necessary for producing the alternation.
How, then, do speakers learn to produce large changes? We propose that temporal contiguity between related forms allows speakers to notice the relationship between forms, strengthening paradigmatic associations between the chunks by which the forms differ and syntagmatic associations within these chunks. Presenting a plural immediately after the corresponding singular in training leads to more production of the exemplified pattern, whether the mapping is faithful (e.g. p→pa) or unfaithful (e.g. k→tʃa). If only one type of mapping is shown in contiguity, the pattern spreads to all inputs. Only when both types of mappings are shown in contiguity do participants learn to match inputs to the correct outputs. A simple two-layer discriminative model captures the results of the trial order manipulations, including cue availability and “chunking.”
In sum, our work shows that paradigmatic associations are acquired through syntagmatic correspondence, which enables even large changes to be produced.
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Keywords
Discriminative learning, Learning, Morphology, Palatalization, Phonology