Children's implicit learning of graphotactic and morphological regularities
Category
Journal Article
Authors
Pacton, S., Fayol, M., Perruchet, P.
Year
2005
Title
Children's implicit learning of graphotactic and morphological regularities
Journal / book / conference
Child Development
Abstract
In French, the transcription of the same sound can be guided by both probabilistic graphotactic constraints (e.g., /et/ is more often transcribed ette after -v than after -f) and morphological constraints (e.g., /et/ is always transcribed ette when used as a diminutive suffix). Three experiments showed that pseudo-word spellings of 8-to 11-year-old children and adults were influenced by both types of constraints. The influence of graphotactic regularities persisted when reliance on morphological rules was possible, without any falling off as a function of age. This suggests that rules are not abstracted, even after massive amounts of exposure to a rule-based material. These results can be accounted for by a statistical model of implicit learning.
Issue
2
Volume
76
Pages
324-339