Rules and Exemplars in Inflectional Morphology: Connectionist, Behavioural and Cross-linguistic Studies in In?ectional Morphology: Comparing German and English past tense and plural production

Bandelow, Stephan

ISBN 10: 3639160509 / ISBN 13: 9783639160505

Published by VDM Verlag, 2009

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 26360035383

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rules and Exemplars in Inflectional Morphology: Connectionist, Behavioural and Cross-linguistic Studies in In?ectional Morphology: Comparing German and English past tense and plural production
• Publisher: VDM Verlag
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3639160509
• ISBN 13: 9783639160505
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

There are currently two main competing theories that aim to explain the neural organisation of in?ectional morphology, which concerns the the generation of past tenses and plurals: Exemplar-based theories, including connectionist models, and dual-route accounts. The latter propose the existence of a distinct symbolic rule system dedicated to human language processing. These contrasting views can have significant implications for learning theory. The work presented in this book relies on connectionist models and empirical behavioural data to determine which theory can best account for German plural and English in?ections. The central result regarding German plurals contradicts previous claims by ?nding that neither the -s nor the -(e)n plural constitute a regular default type. Simulations of English plural and past tense in?ections are also presented because they offer a novel stochastic interpretation of rare double dissociations between regular and irregular in?ection. A behavioural experiment on English past tense production is included to test the differing predictions from connectionist and dual-route models. These results are broadly in favour of exemplar-based theories.

About the Author

Dr Stephan Bandelow completed a BA in Physiology, a Masters in Neuroscience and a DPhil at Oxford University. He has subsequently worked at various research institutes, including the MRC CBU in Cambridge. Since 2005 he works as a lecturer in Psychology at Loughborough University. This book is an edited version of his DPhil thesis from 2003.