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Cited by 64Language Development and DisordersNeurobiology of Language and BilingualismMemory Processes and Influences

No Childhood Advantage in the Acquisition of Skill in Using an Artificial Language Rule

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Ferman, Sara, Karni, Avi·2010·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0013648PMC PMC2965096
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Abstract

A leading notion is that language skill acquisition declines between childhood and adulthood. While several lines of evidence indicate that declarative ("what", explicit) memory undergoes maturation, it is commonly assumed that procedural ("how-to", implicit) memory, in children, is well established. The language superiority of children has been ascribed to the childhood reliance on implicit learning. Here we show that when 8-year-olds, 12-year-olds and young adults were provided with an equivalent multi-session training experience in producing and judging an artificial morphological rule (AMR), adults were superior to children of both age groups and the 8-year-olds were the poorest learners in all task parameters including in those that were clearly implicit. The AMR consisted of phonological transformations of verbs expressing a semantic distinction: whether the preceding noun was animate or inanimate. No explicit instruction of the AMR was provided. The 8-year-olds, unlike most adults and 12-year-olds, failed to explicitly uncover the semantic aspect of the AMR and subsequently to generalize it accurately to novel items. However, all participants learned to apply the AMR to repeated items and to generalize its phonological patterns to novel items, attaining accurate and fluent production, and exhibiting key characteristics of procedural memory. Nevertheless, adults showed a clear advantage in learning implicit task aspects, and in their long-term retention. Thus, our findings support the notion of age-dependent maturation in the establishment of declarative but also of procedural memory in a complex language task. In line with recent reports of no childhood advantage in non-linguistic skill learning, we propose that under some learning conditions adults can effectively express their language skill acquisition potential. Altogether, the maturational effects in the acquisition of an implicit AMR do not support a simple notion of a language skill learning advantage in children.

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Authors
Ferman, S., & Karni, A.
Affiliations
  • Tel Aviv University (IL)
  • University of Haifa (IL)
Corresponding author
Ferman, Sara
ORCID
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2010-10-27
Volume
5
Issue
10
Pages
e13648
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0013648
PMC
PMC2965096
OpenAlex
W2011706536
Cited by
64
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
FWCI
3.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
implicit learning, procedural memory, declarative memory, language acquisition, artificial languages, age differences, maturation, semantic generalization, long-term retention, phonological transformation
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Child, Humans, Language, Learning

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