Statistical Learning
What abilities do learners bring to the table in the early stages of language acquisition? A growing body of research suggests that an important component of language acquisition is the ability to track regularities in sensory input. This ability, broadly termed statistical learning, has been demonstrated in both infant and adult learners and can be deployed for linguistic input as well as input from other modalities. There is evidence that at least some of these computations are phylogenetically preserved, as they are shared with nonhumans.
One of the goals of our lab is to further explore how statistical learning operates with an eye toward understanding how these computations may be realized in the face of variability that comes in the form of noise, competing cues, and multi-sensory input. We have also been collaborating with several other research groups to investigate how statistical learning is impacted by language disorders, such as developmental language disorder. One newer project has begun to explore the interface between attention and statistical learning.