Simulating procedural discovery in early language acquisition: Domain-general cognition with contextual learning

Abstract

We present a simulation study based on a cognitive architecture that unifies various early language acquisition phenomena in laboratory and naturalistic settings. The model adaptively learns procedures through trial-and-error using general-purpose operators, guided by learned contextual associations to optimise future performance. For laboratory-based studies, simulated preferential focusing explains the delayed behavioural onset of statistical learning and the possible age-related decrease in algebraic processing. These findings suggest a link to continuous, implicit learning rather than explicit strategy acquisition. Moreover, procedures are not static but can evolve over time, and multiple plausible procedures may emerge for a given task. Besides, the same model provides a proof-of-concept for word-level phonological learning from naturalistic infant-directed speech, demonstrating how age-related processing efficiency may influence learning trajectories implicated in typical and atypical early language development. Furthermore, the artile discusses the broader implications for modelling other aspects of real-world language acquisition.