Socially guided statistical learning in early language development

old_uid14311
titleSocially guided statistical learning in early language development
start_date2017/11/20
schedule11h
onlineno
detailsInvited by the Perception, Action and Cognitive Development group
summaryHow do infants learn from other people? The microstructure of interaction between infants and caregivers is characterized by statistical regularities in the form and timing of adult responsiveness. Manipulations of responsiveness using biological and robotic interaction partners reveal that social reactions to prelinguistic vocalizing facilitate rapid developmental advances in speech and language. Findings from a new paradigm show that certain characteristics of social interaction are rewarding for infants, and reward pathways may drive learning in social contexts. Parallel studies in songbirds further illustrate the robustness of socially guided learning in vocal development and allow for direct investigation of the developing connections between reward and learning circuitry. Thus prelinguistic vocal learning, one of the earliest stages of language acquisition, is an active, socially-embedded process.
responsiblesRämä, Izard