Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective

Alexander S. Rich; Pamela J. Osborn Popp; David J. Halpern; Anselm Rothe; Todd M. Gureckis

Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective

Alexander S. Rich, Pamela J. Osborn Popp, David J. Halpern, Anselm Rothe, Todd M. Gureckis

Psychology

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Psychological research on learning and memory has tended to emphasize small-scale laboratory studies. However, large datasets of people using educational software provide opportunities to explore these issues from a new perspective. In this paper we describe our approach to the Duolingo Second Language Acquisition Modeling (SLAM) competition which was run in early 2018. We used a well-known class of algorithms (gradient boosted decision trees), with features partially informed by theories from the psychological literature. After detailing our modeling approach and a number of supplementary simulations, we reflect on the degree to which psychological theory aided the model, and the potential for cognitive science and predictive modeling competitions to gain from each other.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics
Subtitle of host publication	Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018
Editors	Joel Tetreault, Jill Burstein, Ekaterina Kochmar, Claudia Leacock, Helen Yannakoudakis
Publisher	Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL)
Pages	223-230
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Electronic)	9781948087117
State	Published - 2018
Event	13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018 - New Orleans, United States Duration: Jun 5 2018 → …

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018

Conference

Conference	13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018
Country/Territory	United States
City	New Orleans
Period	6/5/18 → …

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Science Applications
Artificial Intelligence
Language and Linguistics
Linguistics and Language

Cite this

Rich, A. S., Osborn Popp, P. J., Halpern, D. J., Rothe, A., & Gureckis, T. M. (2018). Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective. In J. Tetreault, J. Burstein, E. Kochmar, C. Leacock, & H. Yannakoudakis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018 (pp. 223-230). (Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018). Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL).

Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective. / Rich, Alexander S.; Osborn Popp, Pamela J.; Halpern, David J. et al.
Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018. ed. / Joel Tetreault; Jill Burstein; Ekaterina Kochmar; Claudia Leacock; Helen Yannakoudakis. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), 2018. p. 223-230 (Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Rich, AS, Osborn Popp, PJ, Halpern, DJ, Rothe, A & Gureckis, TM 2018, Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective. in J Tetreault, J Burstein, E Kochmar, C Leacock & H Yannakoudakis (eds), Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018. Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018, Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), pp. 223-230, 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018, New Orleans, United States, 6/5/18.

Rich AS, Osborn Popp PJ, Halpern DJ, Rothe A, Gureckis TM. Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective. In Tetreault J, Burstein J, Kochmar E, Leacock C, Yannakoudakis H, editors, Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL). 2018. p. 223-230. (Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018).

Rich, Alexander S. ; Osborn Popp, Pamela J. ; Halpern, David J. et al. / Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective. Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018. editor / Joel Tetreault ; Jill Burstein ; Ekaterina Kochmar ; Claudia Leacock ; Helen Yannakoudakis. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), 2018. pp. 223-230 (Proceedings of the 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, BEA 2018 at the 2018 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies, NAACL-HTL 2018).

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Modeling second-language learning from a psychological perspective

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