Statistical Learning and Language: An Individual Differences Study

• Published in: Language learning Vol. 62; no. 1; pp. 302 - 331
• Main Authors: Misyak, Jennifer B., Christiansen, Morten H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.03.2012; Wiley-Blackwell; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adults. Performance, acquisition; artificial grammar; Cognition & reasoning; cognitive motivation; Comprehension; Correlation; fluid intelligence; Individual Differences; Intelligence; Language Acquisition; Language Comparison; language comprehension; Learning; Learning Processes; lexical knowledge; Linguistics; Measures (Individuals); Memory; memory span; Natural Language Processing; Predictor Variables; Production and comprehension processes; Psycholinguistics; Psychology of language; Second Language Learning; Sentences; Short Term Memory; statistical learning; Statistics; Task Analysis; Verbal Ability; verbal working memory; Vocabulary Development; Learning; Working Memory; Language comprehension; Vocabulary; Reading; Motivation; University environment; Short-term memory; Psycholinguistics; Cognition; Statistics
• ISSN: 0023-8333; 1467-9922
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00626.x

Although statistical learning and language have been assumed to be intertwined, this theoretical presupposition has rarely been tested empirically. The present study investigates the relationship between statistical learning and language using a within‐subject design embedded in an individual‐differences framework. Participants were administered separate statistical learning tasks involving adjacent and nonadjacent dependencies, along with a language comprehension task and a battery of other measures assessing verbal working memory, short‐term memory, vocabulary, reading experience, cognitive motivation, and fluid intelligence. Strong interrelationships were found among statistical learning, verbal working memory, and language comprehension. However, when the effects of all other factors were controlled for, performance on the two statistical learning tasks was the only predictor for comprehending relevant types of natural language sentences.