Inhibitory Control Predicts Grammatical Ability

We present evidence that individual variation in grammatical ability can be predicted by individual variation in inhibitory control. We tested 81 5-year-olds using two classic tests from linguistics and psychology (Past Tense and the Stroop). Inhibitory control was a better predicator of grammatical ability than either vocabulary or age. Our explanation is that giving the correct response in both tests requires using a common cognitive capacity to inhibit unwanted competition. The implications are that understanding the developmental trajectory of language acquisition can benefit from integrating the developmental trajectory of non-linguistic faculties, such as executive control.

本研究提供证据表明，个体抑制控制（inhibitory control）的差异可预测个体语法能力的差异。本研究采用语言学与心理学领域的两项经典测试——过去时态测试（Past Tense）与斯特鲁普测试（Stroop），对81名5岁儿童进行了测试。相较于词汇量与年龄，抑制控制对语法能力的预测效果更佳。我们的解释为：在两项测试中给出正确作答，均需调用同一认知能力以抑制无关竞争反应。本研究的启示在于，理解语言习得的发展轨迹，可通过整合执行控制（executive control）等非语言认知能力的发展轨迹来获得更深入的认知。