Exploring Natural Language-Based Strategies for Efficient Number Learning in Children through Reinforcement Learning

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Mittra, Tirthankar
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866914456403968000
author Mittra, Tirthankar
author_facet Mittra, Tirthankar
contents In this paper, we build a reinforcement learning framework to study how children compose numbers using base-ten blocks. Studying numerical cognition in toddlers offers a powerful window into the learning process itself, because numbers sit at the intersection of language, logic, perception, and culture. Specifically, we utilize state of the art (SOTA) reinforcement learning algorithms and neural network architectures to understand how variations in linguistic instructions can affect the learning process. Our results also show that instructions providing explicit action guidance are a more effective learning signal for RL agents to construct numbers. Furthermore, we identify an effective curriculum for ordering numerical-composition examples during training, resulting in faster convergence and improved generalization to unseen data. These findings highlight the role of language and multi-modal signals in numerical cognition and provide hypotheses for designing effective instructional strategies for early childhood education.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_08334
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exploring Natural Language-Based Strategies for Efficient Number Learning in Children through Reinforcement Learning
Mittra, Tirthankar
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Multiagent Systems
In this paper, we build a reinforcement learning framework to study how children compose numbers using base-ten blocks. Studying numerical cognition in toddlers offers a powerful window into the learning process itself, because numbers sit at the intersection of language, logic, perception, and culture. Specifically, we utilize state of the art (SOTA) reinforcement learning algorithms and neural network architectures to understand how variations in linguistic instructions can affect the learning process. Our results also show that instructions providing explicit action guidance are a more effective learning signal for RL agents to construct numbers. Furthermore, we identify an effective curriculum for ordering numerical-composition examples during training, resulting in faster convergence and improved generalization to unseen data. These findings highlight the role of language and multi-modal signals in numerical cognition and provide hypotheses for designing effective instructional strategies for early childhood education.
title Exploring Natural Language-Based Strategies for Efficient Number Learning in Children through Reinforcement Learning
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08334