In order to become proficient native speakers, children have to learn the morpho-syntactic relations between distant elements in a sentence, so-called non-adjacent dependencies (NADs). Previous research suggests that NAD learning in children comprises different developmental stages, where until 2 years of age children are able to learn NADs associatively under passive listening conditions, while starting around the age of 3–4 years children fail to learn NADs during passive listening. To test whether the transition between these developmental stages occurs gradually, we tested children’s NAD learning in a foreign language using event-related potentials (ERPs). We found ERP evidence of NAD learning across the ages of 1, 2 and 3 years. The amplitude of the ERP effect indexing NAD learning, however, decreased with age. These findings might indicate a gradual transition in children’s ability to learn NADs associatively. Cognitively, this transition might be driven by children’s increasing knowledge of their native language, hindering NAD learning in novel contexts. Neuroanatomically, maturation of the prefrontal cortex might play a crucial role, promoting top-down learning, affecting bottom-up, associative learning. In sum, our study suggests that NAD learning under passive listening conditions undergoes a gradual transition between different developmental stages during early childhood.

为了成为熟练的母语人士，孩子们必须学习句子中遥远元素之间的形态句法关系，即所谓的非相邻依赖 (NADs)。先前的研究表明，儿童的 NAD 学习包括不同的发展阶段，直到 2 岁的儿童能够在被动聆听条件下联想到 NAD，而从 3-4 岁左右开始，儿童在被动聆听时无法学习 NAD。为了测试这些发展阶段之间的过渡是否逐渐发生，我们使用事件相关电位 (ERP) 测试了儿童在外语中的 NAD 学习。我们发现了 1、2 和 3 岁儿童 NAD 学习的 ERP 证据。然而，索引 NAD 学习的 ERP 效应的幅度随着年龄的增长而下降。这些发现可能表明儿童联想学习 NADs 的能力逐渐转变。从认知上讲，这种转变可能是由于儿童对其母语的了解不断增加，从而阻碍了 NAD 在新环境中的学习。在神经解剖学上，前额叶皮层的成熟可能起着至关重要的作用，促进自上而下的学习，影响自下而上的联想学习。总之，我们的研究表明，被动聆听条件下的 NAD 学习在儿童早期的不同发展阶段之间经历了逐渐过渡。前额叶皮层的成熟可能起着至关重要的作用，促进自上而下的学习，影响自下而上的联想学习。总之，我们的研究表明，被动聆听条件下的 NAD 学习在儿童早期的不同发展阶段之间经历了逐渐过渡。前额叶皮层的成熟可能起着至关重要的作用，促进自上而下的学习，影响自下而上的联想学习。总之，我们的研究表明，被动聆听条件下的 NAD 学习在儿童早期的不同发展阶段之间经历了逐渐过渡。