Acceptability Judgments in ChatGPT (Study 2)

In this study, I am looking at structure dependence, which is an important concept for generative syntax. Based on a standard poverty of stimulus argument, structure dependence is taken to be part of UG (or derived from third factor considerations).

I tried to stay away from the students: The man who is tall is happy (and any permutation of this sentence) since it has gotten a lot of attention in the media.

Conclusion: ChatGPT performed perfectly on this last batch of questions concerning structure dependence. It got 12/12 correct.

Here is my prompt:  For each sentence, tell me if it is acceptable in spoken English or not. Do not give any explanations.

1. The child who is sleeping was not feeling well.

Acceptable

2. Was the child who is sleeping not feeling well?

Acceptable

3. Is the child who sleeping was not feeling well?

Non-acceptable

4. Students who have cheated will fail.

Acceptable

5. Will students who have cheated fail?

Acceptable

6. Have students who cheated fail?

Non-acceptable

7. Athletes who can jump high will score.

Acceptable

8. Will athletes who can jump high score?

Acceptable

9. Can athletes who jump high will score?

Non-acceptable

10. The person who is charming can succeed in life.

Acceptable

11. Can the person who is charming succeed in life?

Acceptable

12. Is the person who charming can succeed in life?

Non-acceptable