Children's Implicit Learning of Graphotactic and Morphological Regularities

TLDR

French spelling of the same sound is guided by probabilistic graphotactic constraints and morphological rules. Three experiments with 8‑ to 11‑year‑old children and adults showed that both graphotactic and morphological constraints influence pseudo‑word spellings, with graphotactic effects persisting regardless of age and the absence of rule abstraction, a pattern explained by a statistical model of implicit learning.

Abstract

In French, the transcription of the same sound can be guided by both probabilistic graphotactic constraints (e.g., /ɛt/ is more often transcribed ette after ‐ v than after ‐ f ) and morphological constraints (e.g., /ɛt/ is always transcribed ette when used as a diminutive suffix). Three experiments showed that pseudo‐word spellings of 8‐to 11‐year‐old children and adults were influenced by both types of constraints. The influence of graphotactic regularities persisted when reliance on morphological rules was possible, without any falling off as a function of age. This suggests that rules are not abstracted, even after massive amounts of exposure to a rule‐based material. These results can be accounted for by a statistical model of implicit learning.