The Role of Individual Differences in the Ability of Generalising Compositional Meaning
Keywords
Loading...
Authors
Issue Date
2023-06-21
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
This study investigated cognitive abilities contributing to the individual differences in inferring compositional rules. Earlier, it was found that some participants (‘builders’) were more sensitive to structural rules than others (‘mixers’). In this study, I explored what domain-general and language-specific skills explain such differences in the participants’ behaviour. 91 Dutch native speakers completed a compositional rule learning task, a test battery and additional questionnaires regarding their language experience, cognitive motivation and learning styles. I found that non-verbal intelligence, receptive vocabulary and prior language knowledge differentiated ‘blenders’ from ‘mixers’, highlighting the role of those factors in generalisation ability. Adding to the previous evidence, this study provides insights into existing theoretical frameworks on structural rule learning ability and suggests directions for future research.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Letteren