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Modules of grammar acquisition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

David B. Peizer and
David L. Olmsted
David B. Peizer
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
David L. Olmsted
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
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Abstract

A general framework for the study of the acquisition of grammar is proposed as a means toward a decision between competing theories, e.g. innate versus learned. The different functions of grammatical acquisition are distinguished as modules such that each represents a separate task for a comprehensive theory of the child's acquisition of grammar. The notion of an ‘analysis device’ is contrasted with that of a ‘behavior-contingent’ device. Some aspects of the operation of behavior-contingent devices are subjected to simulated experiment; the results suggest that response-learning theories and behavior-contingent models cannot be ruled out a priori and may, in fact, be developed into powerful tools in the study of the acquisition of grammar.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , March 1969, pp. 60 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © 1969 by Linguistic Society of America

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