LINGUIST List 10.426

Mon Mar 22 1999

Support: Ph.D in Neural Network Models

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Victoria Murphy, Ph.D'ship in Neural Network Models at U of Hertfordshire

Ph.D. in NEURAL NETWORK MODELS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION UNIVERSITY OF
HERTFORDSHIRE

A University PhD studentship is available which is jointly funded, and
jointly supervised, by the Psychology and Computer Science
departments. Currently the studentship, for EU citizens only, is 7500
p.a. Supervisors: Neil Davey (Computing), David Messer, Pam Smith,
Victoria Murphy (all Psychology)

Departmental Information : The Psychology Department (RAE 3A) has a
tradition of research in developmental psychology and applied
cognition. This has been strengthened by the close teaching and
research links with the Department of Computer Science (RAE 4) who
have a group interested in cognitive modelling and neural networks. A
programme of jointly funded and supervised PhDs was initiated in 1993
with the award of two studentships. The success of the joint
supervisory arrangements resulted in both PhDs being awarded within
3.5 years. A third and fourth joint studentship have been awarded
subsequently. Appplicants should have at least a 2(i) degree (or
equivalent) in Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Psychology or Computer
Science. Candidates are not expected to offer skills in all the areas
required since tuition will be available.

The PhD program builds on a project began in 1994, centered around the
building of neural computational models of the production of Spanish
noun phrases. Dr S Lpez Ornat, of the Universidad Complutense de
Madrid was closely involved and provided the records of interactions
between Spanish children and adults upon which the modelling was
based. We would like to continue the collaboration with this jointly
funded PhD student and Dr Lpez Ornat is keen to have a ongoing
involvement.


The following is a description of three possible project areas:

1. The idea of a "syntactic burst" suggests that many new language
abilities emerge in a relatively short period of time during the third
year of life. Such a picture is consistent with the idea of a process
of maturation. This project would investigate whether the idea of a
syntactic burst is an accurate picuture of language development and
whether a connectionist model develops in a similar manner.

2. The dual-mechanism model claims that there are two separate systems
which underly the representation and processing of natural language.
One of these is a system of hierarchically represented rules, the
other is a system of associative memory. Evidence for this model
typically comes in the form of dissociations between regular and
irregular inflectional morphology. In compounding, for example,
subjects tend not to include regular plurals within compounds but tend
to include irregulars. This project will investigate this difference
between regulars and irregulars through developing a connectionist
model where the statistical probability of plural morphology occurring
in word final, rather than word medial position is potentially a
causal factor.

3. Evidence suggests some two year old children produce one
phonoprosodic format for noun phrases and another for verb
phrases. One project, using connectionist models, will explore
charateristics of child directed speech that may aid this distinction
to be made by children.


Enquiries about these projects should be directed to:

Neil Davey
Dept of Computing
University of Hertfordshire,
Hatfield,
Herts AL10 9AB
UK
Tel: 01707 28 4310
Email: N.Daveyherts.ac.uk .


Applications forms and further information can be obtained by
contacting:

Lorraine Nicholls
Faculty of Engineering and Information Science
University of Hertfordshire,
Hatfield,
Herts AL10 9AB,
UK
Tel: (0)1707 28-6083
Email: L.Nichollsherts.ac.uk


Completed applications should be returned as soon as possible and
before April 23rd. It is intended that the project should begin in
October 1999, but the start date is negotiable.