Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | lzy012 |
| Pages (from-to) | 44-70 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Journal of Language Evolution |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 15 Feb 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
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Adults are more efficient in creating and transmitting novel signalling systems than children. / Kempe, Vera; Gauvrit, Nicolas; Gibson, Alison; Jamieson, Margaret.
In: Journal of Language Evolution, Vol. 4, No. 1, lzy012, 2019, p. 44-70.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Adults are more efficient in creating and transmitting novel signalling systems than children
AU - Kempe, Vera
AU - Gauvrit, Nicolas
AU - Gibson, Alison
AU - Jamieson, Margaret
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Iterated language learning experiments have shown that meaningful and structured signalling systems emerge when there is pressure for signals to be both learnable and expressive. Yet such experiments have mainly been conducted with adults using language-like signals. Here we explore whether structured signalling systems can also emerge when signalling domains are unfamiliar and when the learners are children with their well-attested cognitive and pragmatic limitations. In Experiment 1, we compared iterated learning of binary auditory sequences denoting small sets of meanings in chains of adults and 5-7-year old children. Signalling systems became more learnable even though iconicity and structure did not emerge despite applying a homonymy filter designed to keep the systems expressive. When the same types of signals were used in referential communication by adult and child dyads in Experiment 2, only the adults, but not the children, were able to negotiate shared iconic and structured signals. Referential communication using their native language by 4-5-year old children in Experiment 3 showed that only interaction with adults, but not with peers resulted in informative expressions. These findings suggest that emergence and transmission of communication systems is unlikely to be driven by children, and point to the importance of cognitive maturity and pragmatic expertise of learners as well as feedback-based scaffolding of communicative effectiveness by experts during language evolution.
AB - Iterated language learning experiments have shown that meaningful and structured signalling systems emerge when there is pressure for signals to be both learnable and expressive. Yet such experiments have mainly been conducted with adults using language-like signals. Here we explore whether structured signalling systems can also emerge when signalling domains are unfamiliar and when the learners are children with their well-attested cognitive and pragmatic limitations. In Experiment 1, we compared iterated learning of binary auditory sequences denoting small sets of meanings in chains of adults and 5-7-year old children. Signalling systems became more learnable even though iconicity and structure did not emerge despite applying a homonymy filter designed to keep the systems expressive. When the same types of signals were used in referential communication by adult and child dyads in Experiment 2, only the adults, but not the children, were able to negotiate shared iconic and structured signals. Referential communication using their native language by 4-5-year old children in Experiment 3 showed that only interaction with adults, but not with peers resulted in informative expressions. These findings suggest that emergence and transmission of communication systems is unlikely to be driven by children, and point to the importance of cognitive maturity and pragmatic expertise of learners as well as feedback-based scaffolding of communicative effectiveness by experts during language evolution.
U2 - 10.1093/jole/lzy012
DO - 10.1093/jole/lzy012
M3 - Article
VL - 4
SP - 44
EP - 70
JO - Journal of Language Evolution
JF - Journal of Language Evolution
SN - 2058-4571
IS - 1
M1 - lzy012
ER -