A cognitive neural model of executive functions in natural language processing

GOLOSIO, BRUNO;Cangelosi, Angelo;Gamotina, Olesya;MASALA, GIOVANNI LUCA CHRISTIAN

2015-01-01

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Abstract

Although extensive research has been devoted to cognitive models of human language, the role of executive functions in language processing has little been explored. In this work we present a neural-network-based cognitive architecture which models the development of the procedural knowledge that underpin language processing. The large scale organization of the architecture is based on a multi-component working memory model, with a central executive that controls the flow of information among the slave systems through neural gating mechanisms. The system was validated, starting from a tabula rasa condition, on a on a corpus of five datasets, each devoted to a thematic group, based on literature on early language assessment, at the level of a preschool child. The results show that the system is capable of learning different word classes, and to use them in expressive language, through an open-ended incremental learning process, expressing a broad range of language processing functionalities.