Hurford, J. (1991). The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition. Cognition 40(3), 159-201.  Home/Search   Document Not in Database   Summary   Related Articles   Check

....mappings between phoneme sequences and underlying meanings. Representative experiments enabled by the system are discussed. I. INTRODUCTION In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in language evolution, with a great deal of work in computer simulations of evolution dynamics [1] [2], 3] 4] 5] 6] 7] 8] 9] 10] This paper presents an implemented workbench for experimenting with simulated evolution of language in which a range of interesting parameters may be explored. In the sense of [11] ours is a system for parameter tuning rather than automatic adaptive ....

James Hurford, "The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition," Cognition, vol. 40, pp. 159--201, 1991.

....of stressing the emergence of grounded perceptual categories and the development of a shared vocabulary to talk about the world. Other reaserchers have used simulations to examine important linguistic phenomena such as the evolutionary emergence of a critical period for language development (Hurford, 1991) and the interaction between evolution and learning in the emergence of language (Kirby Hurford, 1997) Other simulative models have addressed topics in the evolution of animal communication such as the reliability of communication signals in aggressive behavior (de Bourcier Wheeler, 1997) ....

Hurford, J.R. (1991). The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition. Cognition, 40, 159-201.

.... the evolution of language using models that describe a language as a set of signal meaning pairs (Steels, 1996; Oliphant and Batali, 1996; Di Paolo, 1996) Other models have examined important linguistic phenomena such as the evolutionary emergence of a critical period for language development (Hurford, 1991). All these models have the advantage of simulating communicative behavior in an evolutionary perspective and using multi agent models that view language as emerging from the a multiplicity of local interactions. However, we believe it is also useful to try to simulate how a language can emerge in ....

Hurford, J.R. (1991). The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition. Cognition, 40, 159-201.

.... Consequently, the model builds in no strong assumptions about the function(s) of language, whether this be to influence others, communicate (mis)information, or whatever (see e.g. Pinker and Bloom, 1990; Keller, 1994:84f for insightful discussion) 25 The critical period is simply stipulated Hurford (1991) and Kirby and Hurford (1997b) describe simulations in which such a criticial period emerges given certain assumptions. 23 1. Generate cost: 1 (GC) 2. Generate subset language cost: GSC(g) 3. Parse cost: 1 (PC) 4. Parse failure cost: 1 (PF) 5. Parse memory cost: WML(stjg) 6. Parse Generate ....

Hurford, Jim (1991) `The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition', Cognition, vol.40, 159--201.

....could represent some environmental challenge, and the evolved solutions could be cognitive mechanisms for solving that problem. Thus, models emerged for exploring how learning could evolve in a fixed environment [2] how language acquisition could be shaped by specific benefits of communication [3], and how simple sensory guided foraging could evolve in a world with unchanging food locations [4] A moving target The explicit, fixed fitness function representing a fixed environment that cognition adapts to is the default assumption of original genetic algorithm models. But this assumption ....

J.R. Hurford, "The Evolution of the Critical Period for Language Acquisition," Cognition, Vol. 40, no. 3, September 1991, pp. 159-201.

....ABSTRACT In recent years, several explanations have been offered for the critical period in language acquisition, itself, a priori a somehwta surprising phenomenon. Two such explanations are considered here. Both studies use computer simulations, but the factors they model are very different. Hurford (1991) simulates the phylogenetic evolution over hundreds of generations of a species in which the timing of life history traits is under genetic control. The period when an individual is most proficient at language acquisition is just such a life history trait, and is capable of adaptive evolution. ....

....or domain specificity of the language faculty. Other functionalist linguists, such as typologists and grammaticalization theorists, concerned mainly with short term functional pressures, pay little attention to phylogenetic evolution. The work described in the present paper brings together a study (Hurford, 1991) perceived by some as supporting a nativist position on language acquisition and a study (Elman, 1993) commonly held as an example of a functionalist (though not Bybeean diachronic) approach. While knee jerk responses to these papers might assume them to be incompatible, I shall show that they are ....

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Hurford, James R. 1991. "The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition". Cognition, 40: 159-201.

....1 , we show how the existence of critical periods follows from the action of natural selection on genomes in which incremental growth can be tuned to chronological age (maturation) or to accumulating input. 2 This article brings together conclusions from two previous papers in Cognition (Hurford 1991, Elman 1993) which have been thought to be incompatible. The key concepts in our discussion are: 1. Incremental growth in cognitive resources, as facilitating language acquisition 2. The nature of the genome s control over such incremental growth whether growth is a function of maturation or ....

....15 is the close of the latest posited sensitive period for language development, that for morphology and syntax (Long 1990:279) Now, why 15 Why not 30 Why not 55 Indeed, why not 2 A full explanation for a critical period should also explain the particular age range affected. An earlier work (Hurford 1991) proposed a model which identified puberty as the closing age of the critical period for language acquisition. Long s survey makes it clear that in fact puberty is not very closely identified with the closing age of the critical period. The model to be described below gives results in which the ....

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HURFORD, JAMES. 1991. The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition. Cognition 40.159--201.

....is no doubt not exactly one lunar month (Knight, 1991) In such cases, it it worth seeing whether a proposed explanatory mechanism can withstand criticism. We will give some discussion later of what might count as the size of a language. 2 Previous work: conclusions and unresolved issues. 2. 1 Hurford (1991) In a previous paper (Hurford, 1991) a mechanism was shown whereby the critical period evolves to fit in the period of life before puberty. Assuming that possession of language confers fitness, it is evolutionarily advantageous to acquire one s whole language before the onset of one s ....

....(Knight, 1991) In such cases, it it worth seeing whether a proposed explanatory mechanism can withstand criticism. We will give some discussion later of what might count as the size of a language. 2 Previous work: conclusions and unresolved issues. 2. 1 Hurford (1991) In a previous paper (Hurford, 1991), a mechanism was shown whereby the critical period evolves to fit in the period of life before puberty. Assuming that possession of language confers fitness, it is evolutionarily advantageous to acquire one s whole language before the onset of one s reproductive years. In simulations described in ....

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Hurford , James R, 1991 "The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition", Cognition 40:159-201.

....their initial settings, and optionally mutation of the n updatable parameters per trigger. Crossover and mutation can turn an absolute (inherited) principle into a default or unset parameter and vice versa, change values of either, and so forth. 21 19 The critical period is simply stipulated Hurford (1991) and Hurford and Kirby (1997) describe evolutionary simulations in which such a criticial period emerges given certain assumptions. 20 The encoding of p settings allows the deterministic recovery of the initial setting because reset parameters are those preceded by R , or followed by a ....

Hurford, J. (1991) `The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition', Cognition, vol.40, 159--201.

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Hurford, J. (1991). The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition. Cognition 40(3), 159-201.

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