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Language Models Learn Rare Phenomena from Less Rare Phenomena: The Case of the Missing AANNs

(2403.19827)
Published Mar 28, 2024 in cs.CL

Abstract

Language models learn rare syntactic phenomena, but it has been argued that they rely on rote memorization, as opposed to grammatical generalization. Training on a corpus of human-scale in size (100M words), we iteratively trained transformer language models on systematically manipulated corpora and then evaluated their learning of a particular rare grammatical phenomenon: the English Article+Adjective+Numeral+Noun (AANN) construction (a beautiful five days''). We first compared how well this construction was learned on the default corpus relative to a counterfactual corpus in which the AANN sentences were removed. AANNs were still learned better than systematically perturbed variants of the construction. Using additional counterfactual corpora, we suggest that this learning occurs through generalization from related constructions (e.g.,a few days''). An additional experiment showed that this learning is enhanced when there is more variability in the input. Taken together, our results provide an existence proof that models learn rare grammatical phenomena by generalization from less rare phenomena. Code available at https://github.com/kanishkamisra/aannalysis

Comparison of language models on tests, showing effects of different manipulations on accuracy against chance.

Overview

  • The study investigates transformer-based language models' ability to learn the rare AANN (Article+Adjective+Numeral+Noun) construction using a 100 million word corpus.

  • Models could generalize the AANN construction from related, more common constructions, despite reduced performance when AANN instances were removed from training data.

  • Variability in training data and exposure to a broad range of AANN instances enhanced the models’ learning and generalization capabilities.

  • Findings suggest language models’ learning of grammatical constructions is based on statistical learning rather than memorization, with implications for both machine learning and linguistic theory.

Learning Rare Syntactic Phenomena in Language Models: Insights from the AANN Construction

Insights from Systematic Manipulation of Training Data

Recent developments in the field of computational linguistics have highlighted the capabilities of language models to learn and generalize from linguistic input. This article discusses a study that investigates the ability of transformer-based language models to learn a specific rare grammatical phenomenon, the English Article+Adjective+Numeral+Noun (AANN) construction, through systematic manipulation of the training data.

The Study at a Glance

The core of the study involves training language models on a corpus that approximates a human-scale linguistic input (100 million words), with and without exposure to instances of the AANN construction. The training was followed by evaluating the models' performance on AANN as well as on purposefully perturbed variants of the construction, to assess the generality of the learning. The findings lend credence to the hypothesis that models can abstract grammatical principles from related, more common constructions, thereby demonstrating an ability to generalize beyond direct experience.

Key Findings

  1. Generalization from Less Rare Phenomena: The study found that models were able to learn the AANN construction even when explicit instances were removed from the training data, albeit with reduced performance. This suggests that learning leveraged generalization from related constructions encountered in training.
  2. Influence of Related Constructions: Further manipulations of the training data, which removed related constructions (e.g., “a few days”), resulted in a diminished ability to learn AANN, reinforcing the idea that models abstract grammatical rules from them.
  3. Variability Enhances Learning: When models were exposed to a variety of AANN instances in training, showcasing a broad range of adjectives, numerals, and nouns, they were more successful at generalizing the construction compared to models trained on more limited samples. This underscores the role of variability in learning linguistic constructions.
  4. Statistical Learning vs. Memorization: Results indicate that the models' learning of the AANN construction is rooted in statistical learning mechanisms rather than rote memorization. This contrasts with the criticism often leveled at language models, suggesting they are merely "stochastic parrots."

Implications and Future Directions

The study presents compelling evidence that language models, even when trained on data of a scale comparable to that encountered by human learners, can generalize and learn rare grammatical constructions. This has significant implications:

  • Machine Learning: The findings highlight the potential of current statistical learning mechanisms in language models to capture complex linguistic phenomena, suggesting avenues for further refining these models’ grammatical generalization capabilities.
  • Linguistic Theory: The ability to learn from less common phenomena bolsters theories that posit the human linguistic capability stems from generalization over input, rather than innate grammatical knowledge.
  • Teaching Machines Language: From a practical standpoint, understanding the conditions under which language models can generalize rare constructions could inform strategies for training more efficient, linguistically nuanced models.

In future work, extending this approach to a broader set of rare constructions could provide deeper insights into the learning capacities of language models and the linguistic principles that underpin language acquisition. Moreover, studies that bridge the gap between grammatical form learning and semantic understanding could offer a more holistic view of language comprehension in machine learning models.

In conclusion, this research contributes to the ongoing exploration of how language models learn and generalize, demonstrating that with the right exposure and data manipulation, even rare syntactic phenomena are within the grasp of current language technologies.

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