Luo, X;
Sexton, NJ;
Love, BC;
(2021)
A deep learning account of how language affects thought.
Language, Cognition and Neuroscience
10.1080/23273798.2021.2001023.
(In press).
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Abstract
How can words shape meaning? Shared labels highlight commonalities between concepts whereas contrasting labels make differences apparent. To address such findings, we propose a deep learning account that spans perception to decision (i.e. labelling). The model takes photographs as input, transforms them to semantic representations through computations that parallel the ventral visual stream, and finally determines the appropriate linguistic label. The underlying theory is that minimising error on two prediction tasks (predicting the meaning and label of a stimulus) requires a compromise in the network's semantic representations. Thus, differences in label use, whether across languages or levels of expertise, manifest in differences in the semantic representations that support label discrimination. We confirm these predictions in simulations involving fine-grained and coarse-grained labels. We hope these and allied efforts which model perception, semantics, and labelling at scale will advance developmental and neurocomputational accounts of concept and language learning.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A deep learning account of how language affects thought |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/23273798.2021.2001023 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2021.2001023 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Deep learning, word learning, language and thought, semantic representation, Whorfian hypothesis |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Experimental Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10138908 |
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