scholarly journals Child-directed speech is statistically optimized for meaning extraction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanghao You ◽  
Balthasar Bickel ◽  
Moritz M. Daum ◽  
Sabine Stoll
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Underlying Distribution ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Distributional Learning ◽  
Complex Structural ◽  
Extract Information

The way infants manage to extract meaning from the speech stream when learning their first language is a highly complex adaptive behavior. This behavior chiefly relies on the ability to extract information from speech they hear and combine it with the external environment they encounter. However, little is known about the underlying distribution of information in speech that conditions this ability. Here we examine properties of this distribution that support meaning extraction in three different types of speech: child-directed speech, adult conversation, and, as a control, written language. We find that verb meanings in child-directed speech can already be successfully extracted from simple co-occurrences of neighboring words, whereas meaning extraction in the other types of speech fundamentally requires access to more complex structural relations between neighboring words. These results suggest that child-directed speech is ideally shaped for a learner who has not yet mastered the structural complexity of her language and therefore mainly relies on distributional learning mechanisms to develop an understanding of linguistic meanings.

scholarly journals Child-directed speech is optimized for syntax-free semantic inference

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanghao You ◽  
Balthasar Bickel ◽  
Moritz M. Daum ◽  
Sabine Stoll
Keyword(s):  
Structural Information ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Semantic Inference ◽  
The Core ◽  
Text Collections ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Core Meaning ◽  
Extract Information

AbstractThe way infants learn language is a highly complex adaptive behavior. This behavior chiefly relies on the ability to extract information from the speech they hear and combine it with information from the external environment. Most theories assume that this ability critically hinges on the recognition of at least some syntactic structure. Here, we show that child-directed speech allows for semantic inference without relying on explicit structural information. We simulate the process of semantic inference with machine learning applied to large text collections of two different types of speech, child-directed speech versus adult-directed speech. Taking the core meaning of causality as a test case, we find that in child-directed speech causal meaning can be successfully inferred from simple co-occurrences of neighboring words. By contrast, semantic inference in adult-directed speech fundamentally requires additional access to syntactic structure. These results suggest that child-directed speech is ideally shaped for a learner who has not yet mastered syntactic structure.

scholarly journals Why don’t (or do) organizations learn from projects?

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacky Swan ◽  
Harry Scarbrough ◽  
Sue Newell
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Learning Transfer ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Management Capabilities ◽  
Innovation And Change

Many different types of organizations use projects to accomplish specific tasks, especially tasks that involve innovation and change. However, there are often problems associated with both learning within projects and learning transfer from projects to the wider organization. Previous research suggests that these problems vary according to the organizational context, in particular the extent to which the organization is centred on the delivery of projects. Also, the link between project-based learning and organizational learning may be far from seamless, and may require the deployment of a range of learning mechanisms to be effective. In this article we explore and explain these problems through an empirical study which examined project-based learning across different organizational contexts. This study highlights the limitations of learning mechanisms based on reflection and codification. It suggests that firms generally only learn from projects, if at all, via the accumulation of experience amongst groups and individuals. The study suggests, however, that the accumulation of experience is most pronounced in organizational contexts which are project centred and where project management capabilities are well developed. In contrast, in organizations where projects are more varied and occasional, the struggle to exploit the highly heterogeneous forms of learning created within projects is greater.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Different Bilingual Education Models and Its Application on Primary School Children Literacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 667
Author(s):  
Yang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Negative Impacts

<p><em>The term “bilingual education” can be described as a concept of educational research, based on its literal meaning, it usually refers to any educational program that involves two languages in the progress of teaching and learning. In modern society, bilingual education becomes increasingly popular, and has been widely used for the purpose of early education in many countries. This essay evaluates different types of bilingual education (early immersion, two-way language education, maintenance education) by analysing their strengths and limitations mainly in aspects of first language and second language development. From the systematic overview on the three most well-known forms of bilingual education, the author finds that all of them have influence on improving language skills and academic skills in a rolling basis while generally have no negative impacts on their growing process.</em></p>

Resolving lithostratigraphic complexities in the Crayfish Group, Otway Basin using chemostratigraphy

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 588
Author(s):  
Betina Bendall ◽  
Anne Forbes ◽  
Tony Hill
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Rift System ◽  
Lacustrine Environment ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Inorganic Geochemistry ◽  
System A ◽  
Structural Relationships ◽  
Complex Structural

The Otway Basin comprises a significant part of the eastern Australian Southern Rift System, a divergent passive continental margin formed during the Cretaceous separation of the Australian and Antarctic continents. Early rifting activity resulted in the development of many half grabens within the Otway Basin, which are largely infilled by sediments of the Casterton Formation and Crayfish Group. Despite over 20 years of exploration and hydrocarbon production from these units however, their lithostratigraphic characterisation and nomenclature remain ambiguous, with structural complexity and prevalent lateral facies changes leading to confusion in their basin-wide correlation. Deposited in a largely non-marine, fluvial/lacustrine environment, repeating cycles of sandstones and shales of the Crayfish Group can be difficult to resolve using petrology, palynology and wireline log data. The use of chemostratigraphy is favoured as an investigative tool in this situation since changes in provenance, lithic composition, facies, weathering and diagenesis are reflected in the mineralogy of the sediments, resulting in variations in their inorganic geochemistry. Uniform sedimentary successions can thus potentially be differentiated into unique sequences and packages based on their characteristic geochemistry, aiding in the resolution of complex structural relationships and facies changes. In this study, we present new inorganic geochemistry data for four key wells in the South Australian (SA) Penola Trough and interpret the geochemistry data consistent with, and building on, the chemostratigraphic schema of Forbes et al. to demonstrate its utility and robustness. We then undertake inter-well wireline log correlations across the SA Penola Trough using the wells with chemostratigraphic data as controls.

Decagonal random tilings and their quasi-unit cell cluster coverings

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150171
Author(s):  
Juan García Escudero
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Structural Unit ◽  
Cell Cluster ◽  
Penrose Tiling ◽  
Decagonal Quasicrystals ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Complex Structural ◽  
Random Tilings ◽  
Microscopy Images ◽  
Bow Tie

Electron microscopy images of decagonal quasicrystals obtained recently have been shown to be related to cluster coverings with a Hexagon–Bow–Tie decagon as single structural unit. Most decagonal phases show more complex structural orderings than models based on deterministic tilings like the Penrose tiling. We analyze different types of decagonal random tilings and their coverings by a Hexagon–Bow–Tie decagon.

Where is morphological complexity?

2020 ◽  
pp. 306-328
Author(s):  
Marianne Mithun
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Formal Description ◽  
Morphological Complexity ◽  
Different Types

A number of approaches have been taken to defining complexity in language. The issue is important, since underlying some theoretical models has been an assumption, sometimes explicit, sometimes unconscious, that the simplest formal description of a language naturally matches speaker knowledge. But it is not clear that complexity is the same for the analyst, the speaker, and the learner. Here the issue is explored in two languages with relative morphological complexity, but of different types, Central Pomo and Mohawk. First the speech of bilinguals with varying degrees of English dominance is compared. Next, the development of morphological complexity is traced in children learning Mohawk as a first language. The results indicate that complexity is indeed not the same for analysts, speakers, and learners, findings more in tune with abstractive models of morphology than constructive ones.

Occurrence and relative abundance of mosquitoes in stormwater retention facilities in North Carolina, USA

2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 315-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.F. Hunt ◽  
C.S. Apperson ◽  
S.G. Kennedy ◽  
B.A. Harrison ◽  
W.G. Lord
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Mosquito Species ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Retention Structures ◽  
Stormwater Retention

Throughout the 2004 mosquito season, 52 stormwater retention facilities were sampled to characterize the seasonal occurrence and relative abundance of mosquito species in relation to the structural complexity and biological diversity of the facilities. The three different types of facilities included standard wet ponds (n=20), innovative ponds (n=14), and wetland ponds (n=18). All retention structures were sampled at the beginning, middle and end of the mosquito season so that seasonal changes in mosquito production could be characterized. Overall samplings, mosquitoes were collected from 34% of the retention structures. Fourteen species representing 7 genera were collected, but only 5 species (Culex erraticus, Cx. territans, Anophelesquadrimaculatus, An. punctipennis and Uranotaenia sapphirina) were commonly collected in all three types of stormwater management facilities. In general, the seasonal prevalence and relative abundance of mosquito species did not vary among three types of retention structures. A significant association (P&lt;0.01) between the presence of mosquito larvae or pupae and the absence of mosquitofish was found for innovative and wetland stormwater retention facilities but not for standard retention facilities (P&gt;0.05).

scholarly journals Distributional learning aids linguistic category formation in school-age children

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica HALL ◽  
Amanda OWEN VAN HORNE ◽  
Thomas FARMER
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Learning Aids ◽  
Distributional Properties ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Distributional Information ◽  
Distributional Learning ◽  
Category Formation

AbstractThe goal of this study was to determine if typically developing children could form grammatical categories from distributional information alone. Twenty-seven children aged six to nine listened to an artificial grammar which contained strategic gaps in its distribution. At test, we compared how children rated novel sentences that fit the grammar to sentences that were ungrammatical. Sentences could be distinguished only through the formation of categories of words with shared distributional properties. Children's ratings revealed that they could discriminate grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. These data lend support to the hypothesis that distributional learning is a potential mechanism for learning grammatical categories in a first language.

Non-Invasive On-Line Monitoring for Nuclear Power Plants Using Guided Waves Propagating in Steel Pipes With Different Types of Structural Complexity

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Bertoncini ◽  
Mauro Cappelli ◽  
Francesco Cordella ◽  
Marco Raugi
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Guided Waves ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Ultrasonic Waves ◽  
Steel Pipes ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Different Types ◽  
On Line

On-line monitoring for installed piping in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), as well as for Oil & Gas and other kind of plants, is crucial to early detect local ageing effects and locate single defects before they may result in critical failures. All the actions able to prevent failures are of great value especially if non-invasive and allowing an In-Service Inspection (ISI). In particular the Long Term Operation (LTO) and Plant Life Extension (PLEX) may be invalidated from radiation, thermal, mechanical stresses besides their own ageing. Hence on-line monitoring techniques are of much interest especially if they assure the required safety levels and at the same time are simple and cost-effective. Guided Waves (GW) satisfy these requirements since they are structure-borne ultrasonic waves that propagate themselves without interfering along the same pipe structure, which in turns through its geometric boundaries serves as a confining structure for the GW used to test its integrity. The frequencies used for GW testing extend up to 250 kHz, thus allowing a long-range inspection of pipes (tens of meters in favorable circumstances). The experimental conditions (e.g. temperature, complex piping structure, wall thickness, materials) have to be considered since they strongly affect the results but GW generated through magnetostrictive sensors are expected to overcome such issues due to their robustness and positioning ease. In this paper, new experimental tests conducted using the proposed methodology for steel pipes having different types of structural complexity are described.

scholarly journals Between syntax and discourse

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Laleko ◽  
Maria Polinsky
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Structure Level ◽  
Different Types ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Status ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract This article examines the knowledge of topic and subject particles in heritage speakers and L2 learners of Japanese and Korean. We assume that topic marking is mediated at the syntax-information structure interface, while subject marking pertains to narrow syntax. In comparing phenomena mediated at different levels of linguistic organization, we provide evidence for the hypothesis that information structure-level phenomena present greater challenges for bilingual speakers than those mediated within syntax. While these results may be interpreted as evidence of generalized interface-related deficits, we show that such a global explanation is not supported. Instead, a more nuanced account is developed, based on the recognition of different types of topic (anaphoric, generic, and contrastive) and different types of subject (descriptive and exhaustive). Under the proposed account, non-native speakers’ deficits follow from three unrelated effects: the status of topic as an interface category, structural complexity, and the memory demands necessary for its interpretation in context.

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