Multimodal Infant Statistical Learning

Abstract

Although initially implicated in language learning, the ability to recognize patterns in sensory input based on their statistical properties (i.e. statistical learning, SL) has since been widely implicated in cognitive and perceptual development. However, not much is known about the underlying mechanisms of SL and whether they vary by specific stimuli features or undergo developmental changes. Previous research approached these questions by comparing SL across perceptual modalities and found evidence of modality-specific learning effects and developmental shifts in 8-10 month old infants (Emberson et al., 2019). In order to further investigate the mechanistic questions about SL, we extend the approach taken by Emberson et al. (2019) and compare SL across both perceptual modalities (auditory & visual) and stimuli domain (simple & complex). Learning was not found in either perceptual modality, but a looking preference was found for the visual modality and simple domain. A marginal three way interaction was also found between test trial type (familiar vs. novel), modality, and domain which translated into a familiarity preference for the simple-auditory condition and no preference effect for the other stimuli. Interpreted within the Hunter and Ames (1988) model, where familiarity preferences reflect a weaker stage of encoding than novelty preferences and post- habituation lack of preferences indicate equal interest for either test trial type, we conclude that there may be weaker learning in the simple-auditory condition; however, it must be noted that additional test trials may have led to clearer results. Additionally, we did not find evidence of developmental trajectories across modality, domain, or within each stimuli condition. Furthermore, the results suggest that SL is not an abstract, amodal ability; for the types of stimuli and statistics tested, we find that SL does vary based on a combination of stimuli features. Keywords: statistical learning, auditory, visual, simple, complex, modality-specific