Today was an interesting day.
We went to the University of Washington for our daughter to participate in a scientific study at the Institute of Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS for short)
The study was interesting, I've always been attracted to medical sciences, and never really thought of having my child participate in it. When we got the letter from UW shortly after she was born, it didn't take long to make a decision. It will not only help the advancement of the understanding of learning and how the brain reacts to linguistics, but is also painless as well as a learning experience for the wife and I.
We got to the laboratory and were greeted by one of the nice Drs that was working on the project. The test itself is about the ability for infants to distinguish between similar phonetic patterns. They hooked tiny Bubbahkin to an extraordinary hat with multiple sensors and wires of the like coming out of it. It didn't seem to bother her much (I'm assuming that iron helms are a bit more of a pain in the bum.) Keeping her busy with toys and visual displays on a tv in an enclosed environment, my wife sat with the baby and an attendant.
They then begin playing a looped tape that to an adults ears sounds like "Da Da Da Da" which is actually a hindi phonetic sequence. Each first and third phonetic is the same and each second and fourth phonetic is different. Infants of eleven months can hear the difference. At thirteen months a mono-lingual baby begins to hear only one of the phonetics where as a bi-lingual child of the same age can still hear the difference. Both of which are gone at seventeen months, in which case they hear only the phonetic they've come to recognize through the language they are taught.
All of it was fantastically intriguing, and Bubbahkin even managed to sit still through the entire eighteen minute session. Then she grew tiresome and required a warm stamina potion and a nap on the ride home.
I'm so proud and still completely fascinated at the study.
FOR SCIENCE!
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