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Exclusive OR rules have been of interest to learning theorists, because they have a sub-pattern structure that makes them unlearnable via associative mechanisms. Previous research in which 11-month-olds and adults were exposed to CVCV nonwords generated by an OR rule (if C1 is voiced then C2 is voiced, OR if C1 is voiceless then C2 is voiceless) demonstrated that infants readily learned the rule, while adults did not. However, the observed infant~adult difference may be due to the fact that infants were tested on blocks of words containing both voiced and voiceless words. Thus, individual infants may have learned only one of the sub-patterns. Here we asked if infants learn both sub-patterns by familiarizing them with words generated by the OR voicing rule and testing on new words in which voiced and voiceless consistent test words were given on separate trials. Infants listened significantly longer to both voiced and voiceless consistent test trials than to inconsistent test trials, suggesting that the previously observed learning difference between infants and adults is one that requires explanation.
Funding: NSF 1724842 & NIH R01DC018410
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