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The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback

The merits of special purpose computer languages for process control are discussed; it is proposed that the FORTRAN language is an adequate and generally available vehicle for the programming of on-line real-time experiments in Psychology, when used with the techniques which are described. l. A broa...

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Main Author: Lester Harold Gilbert
Other Authors: Professor P. D. du Preez
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Psychology 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Lester Harold Gilbert
author2 Professor P. D. du Preez
author_browse Lester Harold Gilbert
Professor P. D. du Preez
author_facet Professor P. D. du Preez
Lester Harold Gilbert
author_sort Lester Harold Gilbert
collection Thesis
description The merits of special purpose computer languages for process control are discussed; it is proposed that the FORTRAN language is an adequate and generally available vehicle for the programming of on-line real-time experiments in Psychology, when used with the techniques which are described. l. A broad selective review of the literature on the acquisition of language by the young child yielded two questions which required investigation: the apparent incapacity in principle of current learning theory to account for such acquisition, and the apparent ineffectiveness of explicit reinforcement and feedback for accelerating language learning, An answer to the first question is sketched by a general theory of behaviour (du Preez, 1975), which is outlined, and a discussion of the necessity for maintaining correct levels of discourse in explaining a phenomena. 2. An experiment was carried out to provide evidence bearing upon the second question, the effects of informational feedback in language learning. The experiment illustrates the computer programming techniques discussed earlier, but primarily serves to demonstrate the kinds of studies which, line with the. general behavioural theory, may fruitfully explore language acq1..ns1.t1.on. Such studies, it is proposed, should employ miniature artificial languages and computer-controlled environments. University subjects were required to learn a miniature artHid.al language, and were given various combinations of semantic and syntactic informational feedback about their errors of production. The language dealt with the description of simple geomet_1~ical e!:ts nresented on a visual display· screen., ,~rh.ile the subjects interacted with the computer via a
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:54.720Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher Department of Psychology
publisherStr Department of Psychology
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40061 The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback Lester Harold Gilbert Professor P. D. du Preez Psychology The merits of special purpose computer languages for process control are discussed; it is proposed that the FORTRAN language is an adequate and generally available vehicle for the programming of on-line real-time experiments in Psychology, when used with the techniques which are described. l. A broad selective review of the literature on the acquisition of language by the young child yielded two questions which required investigation: the apparent incapacity in principle of current learning theory to account for such acquisition, and the apparent ineffectiveness of explicit reinforcement and feedback for accelerating language learning, An answer to the first question is sketched by a general theory of behaviour (du Preez, 1975), which is outlined, and a discussion of the necessity for maintaining correct levels of discourse in explaining a phenomena. 2. An experiment was carried out to provide evidence bearing upon the second question, the effects of informational feedback in language learning. The experiment illustrates the computer programming techniques discussed earlier, but primarily serves to demonstrate the kinds of studies which, line with the. general behavioural theory, may fruitfully explore language acq1..ns1.t1.on. Such studies, it is proposed, should employ miniature artificial languages and computer-controlled environments. University subjects were required to learn a miniature artHid.al language, and were given various combinations of semantic and syntactic informational feedback about their errors of production. The language dealt with the description of simple geomet_1~ical e!:ts nresented on a visual display· screen., ,~rh.ile the subjects interacted with the computer via a 2024-06-28T12:57:21Z 2024-06-28T12:57:21Z 1978 2024-06-25T11:38:38Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40061 eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities
spellingShingle Psychology
Lester Harold Gilbert
The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback
title_full The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback
title_fullStr The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback
title_full_unstemmed The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback
title_short The acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback
title_sort acquisition of a miniature artificial language under various conditions of feedback
topic Psychology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40061
work_keys_str_mv AT lesterharoldgilbert theacquisitionofaminiatureartificiallanguageundervariousconditionsoffeedback
AT lesterharoldgilbert acquisitionofaminiatureartificiallanguageundervariousconditionsoffeedback