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Simplicity and informativeness in the cultural evolution of language Jon W. Carr, Kenny Smith, Jennifer Culbertson, Simon Kirby Centre for Language Evolution School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences University of Edinburgh
Centre for Language Evolution School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences University of Edinburgh
Simplicity and informativeness in the cultural evolution of language
Jon W. Carr, Kenny Smith, Jennifer Culbertson, Simon Kirby
Language
Pressures shaping language
Language
Learning
Pressures shaping language
S i m p l e
Language
Communication Learning
Pressures shaping language
S i m p l e I n f
m a t i v e
50 100 1 2 3 4
⬅ Informative ⬅ Simple
Kinship terms are simple and informative
Kemp & Regier (2012)
50 100 1 2 3 4
⬅ Informative ⬅ Simple
Kinship terms are simple and informative
Kemp & Regier (2012)
Lab experiments
Learning-only
Lab experiments
Learning-only Communication-only
Lab experiments
Learning-only Learning + Communication
50 100 1 2 3 4
Learning and communication pressures
⬅ Informative ⬅ Simple
50 100 1 2 3 4
Learning and communication pressures
⬅ Informative ⬅ Simple
learning
50 100 1 2 3 4
Learning and communication pressures
⬅ Informative ⬅ Simple
communication learning
50 100 1 2 3 4
Learning and communication pressures
⬅ Informative ⬅ Simple
l e a r n i n g + c
m u n i c a t i
communication learning
50 100 1 2 3 4
Learning and communication pressures
⬅ Informative ⬅ Simple
l e a r n i n g + c
m u n i c a t i
communication learning
newhomo kamone gaku hokako kapa gakho wuwele nepi pihino nemone piga kawake gamenewawu gamenewawa gamenewuwu gamene mega megawawa megawuwu wulagi egewawu egewawa egewuwu ege tuge tuge tuge tuge tuge tuge tuge tuge tuge tupim tupim tupim miniku miniku miniku tupin tupin tupin poi poi poi poi poi poi poi poi poiKirby, Cornish, & Smith (2008) Kirby, Tamariz, Cornish, & Smith (2015) Kirby, Tamariz, Cornish, & Smith (2015)
Iterated learning can give rise to informative languages
Carstensen, Xu, Smith, Regier (2015)
Iterated learning can give rise to informative languages
Carstensen, Xu, Smith, Regier (2015)
Training phase
Test phase
Stimuli
Angle Size
Stimuli
Angle Size
Stimuli
Angle Size
Stimuli
Angle Size
Which is easiest to learn?
Angle-only Size-only Angle & Size
Results
Angle-only
Results
Size-only
Results
Angle & Size
Result: Learnability advantage for the less informative systems
Iterated learning
1 category 2 categories 4 categories 3 categories
Results
Measuring simplicity
Measuring simplicity
3×3 1×1 1×8 1×2 1×4 1×6 1×1 3×4 1×1 2×6 2×3 1×2 4×8 4×8
Simplicity
Simplicity Informativeness
Simplicity Informativeness
Two ways of achieving simplicity
Category reorganization
Two ways of achieving simplicity
Loss of expressivity Category reorganization
Two ways of achieving simplicity
Loss of expressivity Category reorganization
increases informativeness decreases informativeness
Conclusions
The pressure from learning has two consequences: Loss of Expressivity: Loss of words/categories to aid learning Simpler categories: Reorganization of the space to aid learning Iterated learning favours semantic category systems that are simple Some informativeness comes along for the ride, potentially obscuring the causal mechanism