eprintid: 10084279
rev_number: 17
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/08/42/79
datestamp: 2019-10-29 11:13:23
lastmod: 2020-09-03 06:10:07
status_changed: 2019-10-29 11:13:23
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Silvey, C
creators_name: Kirby, S
creators_name: Smith, K
title: Communication increases category structure and alignment only when combined with cultural transmission
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: A01
divisions: B02
divisions: C07
divisions: D05
divisions: F71
keywords: Categories, Convexity, Alignment, Communication, Cultural transmission
note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
abstract: The semantic categories labeled by words in natural languages are used for communication with others, and learned by observing the productions of others who learned them in the same way. Do these processes of communication and cultural transmission affect the structure of category systems and their alignment across speakers? We examine novel category systems that emerge from communication, cultural transmission, and both processes combined. Communication alone leads to category systems that vary widely in their communicative effectiveness, and are no more structured or aligned than those created by individuals. When combined with cultural transmission, communication speeds up convergence on a learnable number of structured, aligned categories that are consistently communicatively effective. However, cultural transmission without communication eventually has similar results. Communication appears to be neither necessary nor sufficient for creating semantic category systems that are robustly effective for communication. Furthermore, category systems that emerge from cultural transmission are more aligned across speakers than the systems created by individuals, suggesting that cultural transmission allows individuals to coordinate their semantic systems more effectively than they can through shared perceptual biases alone.
date: 2019-12-01
date_type: published
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104051
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
article_type_text: Journal Article
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1695172
doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2019.104051
lyricists_name: Silvey, Catriona
lyricists_id: CASIL74
actors_name: Silvey, Catriona
actors_id: CASIL74
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of Memory and Language
volume: 109
article_number: 104051
citation:        Silvey, C;    Kirby, S;    Smith, K;      (2019)    Communication increases category structure and alignment only when combined with cultural transmission.                   Journal of Memory and Language , 109     , Article 104051.  10.1016/j.jml.2019.104051 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104051>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10084279/1/jml_accepted_version.pdf