Phonology and syntax in specific language impairment: Evidence from a connectionist approach

Difficulties inresO#zzS pronominal anaphora have been takenas evidence that Specific Language Impairment (SLI)involves agrammar-sO;---Ss impairment. Thepres#H ses explores an alternative view, that grammaticaldeficits in SLI areseS---UWz of impairedspair perception.This perceptual deficitscitSWHO---W a#ects the us of phonological information in working memory, which in turnleads to poorer than expected spectedS comprehens---OS This hypothess was exploreduslo aconnectionis model ofsS------H---# procesST--- that learned to mapspSz---WUO ofwords to theirmeanings AnaphoricresoricS--- was represcS------ inthis model by recognizing theseSWz;O--- of the correct antecedent when a bound pronounwas input. When the modelwas trained ondisUWGCS phonologicalinputs ---ss#S#S#S a perceptual deficit---it exhibited marked difficulty resultyS boundanaphors However, many otheraserSH ofsSzW---Oz comprehensGO were intact;mos importantly, the model could suldresdSH pronouns usns gender information. In addition, the model#s deficit was graded rather than categorical,as itwas able toresWG# pronouns insS--- s---z#---OSTW but not inothers Thes ress are consUzHST with behavioral data concerningsoncerni deficits in SLI. The model provides acaus--- demonsTWzU#U of how a perceptual deficit could give ris to grammatical deficits in SLI