The article models early language acquisition as a search on a graph-based mental lexicon driven by spreading activation and enforced exploration of lexical categories. The researchers evaluate this approach on German, English, Dutch, and Rioplatense Spanish using CDI data and Wordbank repository norms.
- Spreading activation outperforms a shortest path baseline in simulating normative word acquisition.
- The model captures complex transitions between CDI categories by analyzing burstiness and average persistence time.
- Findings suggest vocabulary development results from the interplay between activation dynamics and constraints on visiting lexical categories.
The study indicates that understanding the non-trivial interplay between activation and category constraints helps explain empirical exploration dynamics in child language acquisition.