Early Language Learning with Complex Networks

Day - Time: 09 December 2026, h.11:00

Place: Area della Ricerca CNR di Pisa - Room: C-29

Speakers

• Salvatore Citraro

Referent

Giulio Del Corso

Abstract

Representingthe mental lexicon as a complex network (where words are the nodes andlinguistic relations are the edges of a graph) has helped researchers studycognitive phenomena such as early language learning. Evidence suggests thatvocabulary development exhibits non-trivial patterns, with words and lexicalcategories emerging at different stages. Since the structure of a complexnetwork can shape which nodes are reached earlier or later during a navigation,we can model early language learning as a search on a mental lexiconrepresented as a graph. Given the recent literature on the topic, I willpropose and discuss a model driven by two interacting dynamics: spreadingactivation and an enforced exploration (rather than exploitation) of lexicalcategories.