The linguistic genius of babies | Patricia Kuhl

Prevoditelj: Davorin Jelačić Recezent: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG

Volio bih da pogledate ovu bebu.

I want you to take a look at this baby.

Privući će vas njezine oči

What you're drawn to are her eyes and the skin you love to touch.

i koža koju volite dodirivati.

But today I'm going to talk to you about something you can't see.

Ali danas ću vam govoriti o nečemu što ne možete vidjeti,

What's going on up in that little brain of hers.

što se zbiva u tom njezinom malenom mozgu.

The modern tools of neuroscience are demonstrating to us

Suvremena oruđa neuroznanosti

pokazuju nam da ono što se ondje događa

that what's going on up there is nothing short of rocket science.

nije ništa jednostavnije od znanosti o raketama.

And what we're learning is going to shed some light

Ono što učimo

unijet će malo svjetla

on what the romantic writers and poets described as the "celestial openness"

u ono što su romantični pisci i pjesnici

opisivali kao "otvorenost k nebu"

of the child's mind.

dječjega uma.

Ovdje vidimo

What we see here is a mother in India,

majku u Indiji,

and she's speaking Koro, which is a newly discovered language.

ona govori Koro,

što je novo otkriveni jezik.

I ona govori svom djetetu.

And she's talking to her baby.

Ova mati razumije --

What this mother --

and the 800 people who speak Koro in the world --

kao i 800 ljudi na svijetu koji govore Koro --

understands is that, to preserve this language,

da, ako žele očuvati ovaj jezik,

moraju ga govoriti bebama.

they need to speak it to the babies.

And therein lies a critical puzzle.

I tu se nalazi kritična zagonetka.

Why is it that you can't preserve a language

Zbog čega ne možete sačuvati neki jezik

by speaking to you and I, to the adults?

govoreći ga vama i meni, odraslima?

Pa, to ima veze s vašim mozgom.

Well, it's got to do with your brain.

What we see here is that language has a critical period for learning.

Ovdje vidimo

da postoji kritično razdoblje za učenje jezika.

The way to read this slide is to look at your age on the horizontal axis.

Ovaj slajd čitamo tako da potražimo našu dob na vodoravnoj osi.

(Smijeh)

(Laughter)

And you'll see on the vertical your skill at acquiring a second language.

A na okomitoj ćete vidjeti

vašu vještinu u usvajanju drugog jezika.

Bebe i djeca su geniji

The babies and children are geniuses until they turn seven,

do dobi od 7 godina,

and then there's a systematic decline.

a zatim slijedi sustavan pad.

After puberty, we fall off the map.

Nakon puberteta, ispadamo s prikaza.

Nema znanstvenika koji opovrgavaju ovu krivulju,

No scientists dispute this curve,

but laboratories all over the world

ali laboratoriji širom svijeta

are trying to figure out why it works this way.

pokušavaju shvatiti zašto je to tako.

Work in my lab is focused on the first critical period in development,

U mojem laboratoriju, rad je usmjeren

na prvo kritično razdoblje razvoja --

and that is the period in which babies

i to je razdoblje u kojemu

try to master which sounds are used in their language.

bebe pokušavaju ovladati zvukovima koji se koriste u njihovom jeziku.

Mislimo da ćemo proučavanjem kako djeca uče zvukove,

We think, by studying how the sounds are learned,

we'll have a model for the rest of language,

dobiti i model za ostatak jezika,

and perhaps for critical periods that may exist in childhood

a možda i za kritična razdoblja koja mogu postojati u djetinjstvu

for social, emotional and cognitive development.

za društveni, emocionalni

i kognitivni razvoj.

So we've been studying the babies

Pa proučavamo bebe

using a technique that we're using all over the world

koristeći tehniku koju rabimo širom svijeta

and the sounds of all languages.

na zvukovima iz svih jezika.

The baby sits on a parent's lap,

Beba sjedi u krilu roditelja,

and we train them to turn their heads when a sound changes --

i vježbamo ih da okrenu glavu kad se zvuk promijeni --

kao iz "ah" u "ii".

like from "ah" to "ee."

If they do so at the appropriate time, the black box lights up

Ako to učine u pravo vrijeme,

crna kutija se osvijetli

and a panda bear pounds a drum.

i panda medvjedić zabubnja.

A six-monther adores the task.

Dijete od šest mjeseci obožava ovaj zadatak.

Što smo naučili?

What have we learned?

Well, babies all over the world

Pa, bebe u cijelom svijetu

are what I like to describe as "citizens of the world."

su ono što volim opisivati

kao građani svijeta;

They can discriminate all the sounds of all languages,

mogu razlikovati sve zvukove iz svih jezika,

no matter what country we're testing and what language we're using,

bez obzira u kojoj zemlji radimo testiranje i koji jezik koristimo.

I to je izuzetno, budući da vi i ja to ne možemo.

and that's remarkable because you and I can't do that.

Mi smo slušatelji pod utjecajem kulture.

We're culture-bound listeners.

Možemo razlikovati zvukove našeg vlastitog jezika,

We can discriminate the sounds of our own language,

ali ne one iz stranih jezika.

but not those of foreign languages.

Pa se postavlja pitanje,

So the question arises: When do those citizens of the world

kada ti građani svijeta

turn into the language-bound listeners that we are?

postaju vezani za jedan jezik poput nas?

And the answer: before their first birthdays.

Odgovor je: prije svog prvog rođendana.

What you see here is performance on that head-turn task

Ovdje vidite rezultate takvog zadatka okretanja glave

for babies tested in Tokyo and the United States,

s bebama testiranim u Tokyou i Sjedinjenim Državama,

ovdje u Seattleu,

here in Seattle,

as they listened to "ra" and "la" --

dok su slušale "ra" i "la" --

sounds important to English, but not to Japanese.

zvukove bitne u engleskom, ali ne i u japanskom jeziku.

So at six to eight months, the babies are totally equivalent.

U dobi od 6 do 8 mjeseci, bebe su potpuno jednake.

Two months later, something incredible occurs.

Dva mjeseca kasnije, nešto nevjerojatno se događa.

The babies in the United States are getting a lot better,

Bebe u Sjedinjenim Državama postaju puno bolje,

a bebe u Japanu puno gore,

babies in Japan are getting a lot worse,

ali se obje skupine beba

but both of those groups of babies are preparing for exactly the language

pripremaju točno za jezik koji će učiti.

that they are going to learn.

Pa je pitanje, što se događa

So the question is: What's happening during this critical two-month period?

tijekom tog kritičnog razdoblja od dva mjeseca?

This is the critical period for sound development,

To je razdoblje zvučnog razvoja,

ali što se pritom događa?

but what's going on up there?

So there are two things going on.

Dvije stvari se događaju.

The first is that the babies are listening intently to us,

Prva je ta da nas bebe pomno slušaju,

and they're taking statistics as they listen to us talk --

i bave se statistikom dok nas slušaju --

bave se statistikom.

they're taking statistics.

Poslušajte dvije majke koje pričaju majčinskim --

So listen to two mothers speaking motherese --

the universal language we use when we talk to kids --

univerzalnim jezikom koji koristimo kad pričamo s djecom --

first in English and then in Japanese.

prvo na engleskom, a zatim na japanskom.

(Video) Ah, I love your big blue eyes --

(Video) Engleska majka: Ah, volim tvoje velike plave oči --

so pretty and nice.

tako su lijepe i slatke.

(Japanese)

Japanska majka: [Japanski]

Patricia Kuhl: During the production of speech, when babies listen,

Patricia Kuhl: Za vrijeme govorenja,

dok bebe slušaju,

what they're doing is taking statistics on the language that they hear.

one vrše statističku obradu

jezika koji slušaju.

And those distributions grow.

I distribucija raste.

And what we've learned is that babies are sensitive to the statistics,

Ono što smo naučili je to

da su bebe osjetljive na statistiku,

and the statistics of Japanese and English are very, very different.

a statistika japanskog i engleskog je jako, jako različita.

English has a lot of Rs and Ls.

Engleski ima puno glasova "R" i "L"

The distribution shows.

kako pokazuje distribucija.

And the distribution of Japanese is totally different,

Distribucija japanskog je sasvim drukčija,

i kod njega vidimo skupinu među glasova,

where we see a group of intermediate sounds,

koji su poznati kao japansko "R".

which is known as the Japanese "R."

So babies absorb the statistics of the language

Dakle, bebe upijaju

statistiku jezika

and it changes their brains;

i to mijenja njihov mozak;

it changes them from the citizens of the world

mijenja ih od građana svijeta

to the culture-bound listeners that we are.

u slušatelje sputane kulturom kakvi smo mi.

But we as adults are no longer absorbing those statistics.

Ali mi odrasli

više ne upijamo tu statistiku.

Nama upravljaju predodžbe u sjećanju

We are governed by the representations in memory

that were formed early in development.

koje su formirane rano u razvoju.

So what we're seeing here

Ono što ovdje vidimo

is changing our models of what the critical period is about.

mijenja naše modele o tome što predstavlja to kritično razdoblje.

We're arguing from a mathematical standpoint

S matematičkog stanovišta tvrdimo

that the learning of language material may slow down

da se učenje jezika može usporiti

when our distributions stabilize.

kad nam se distribucija stabilizira.

It's raising lots of questions about bilingual people.

Ovo postavlja brojna pitanja o dvojezičnim ljudima.

Dvojezična djeca moraju u glavi istovremeno držati 2 statistike

Bilinguals must keep two sets of statistics in mind at once

i prebacivati se s jedne na drugu,

and flip between them, one after the other,

ovisno o tome s kim govore.

depending on who they're speaking to.

So we asked ourselves,

Pa smo se zapitali,

can the babies take statistics on a brand new language?

mogu li djeca statistički obraditi i sasvim novi jezik?

And we tested this by exposing American babies

Testirali smo to izlažući američke bebe

koje nikad nisu čule drugi jezik

who'd never heard a second language

mandarinskom po prvi puta tijekom kritičnog razdoblja.

to Mandarin for the first time during the critical period.

Znali smo da, kad su testirana jednojezična djeca

We knew that, when monolinguals were tested in Taipei and Seattle

u Taipeiu i Seattleu s mandarinskim zvukovima,

on the Mandarin sounds, they showed the same pattern.

pokazuju isti obrazac.

Six to eight months, they're totally equivalent.

Šest, osam mjeseci, potpuno su jednaki.

Dva mjeseca kasnije, događa se nešto nevjerojatno.

Two months later, something incredible happens.

But the Taiwanese babies are getting better, not the American babies.

Ali tajvanske bebe postaju bolje, a ne američke.

Ono što smo mi učinili je bilo da američke bebe tijekom tog razdoblja

What we did was expose American babies, during this period, to Mandarin.

izložimo mandarinskom.

Bilo je to kao da je mandarinska rodbina došla u posjet na mjesec dana

It was like having Mandarin relatives come and visit for a month

uselila vam u kuću

and move into your house and talk to the babies for 12 sessions.

i razgovarala s bebama tijekom 12 seansi.

Here's what it looked like in the laboratory.

Ovako je to izgledalo u laboratoriju.

(Video) Mandarinski govornik: [Mandarinski]

(Mandarin)

PK: So what have we done to their little brains?

PK: Što smo, dakle, uradili njihovim malim umovima?

(Smijeh)

(Laughter)

We had to run a control group to make sure

Morali smo imati i kontrolnu skupinu

that coming into the laboratory didn't improve your Mandarin skills.

da osiguramo da sam dolazak u laboratorij

nije poboljšao mandarinske vještine.

So a group of babies came in and listened to English.

Pa je skupina beba dolazila i slušala engleski.

And we can see from the graph

I vidimo na ovom grafikonu

that exposure to English didn't improve their Mandarin.

da izloženost engleskom nije poboljšalo njihov mandarinski.

But look at what happened to the babies exposed to Mandarin for 12 sessions.

Ali pogledajte što se dogodilo s bebama

koje su 12 seansi slušale mandarinski.

They were as good as the babies in Taiwan

Bile su jednako dobre kao i bebe na Taiwanu

who'd been listening for 10 and a half months.

koje su slušale tijekom 10 i pol mjeseci.

What it demonstrated is that babies take statistics on a new language.

Ovo je demonstriralo

da bebe vrše statističku obradu novog jezika.

Whatever you put in front of them, they'll take statistics on.

Što god stavite pred njih, one će statistički obraditi.

But we wondered what role

No, pitali smo se kakvu ulogu

the human being played in this learning exercise.

igra čovjek

u ovoj vježbi učenja.

So we ran another group of babies in which the kids got the same dosage,

Pa smo testirali novu skupinu beba

koje su dobile istu dozu, istih 12 seansi,

the same 12 sessions, but over a television set.

ali pred televizorom,

And another group of babies who had just audio exposure

i još jednu skupinu koja je slušala zvukove

and looked at a teddy bear on the screen.

i promatrala medvjedića na ekranu.

Što smo njihovim mozgovima učinili?

What did we do to their brains?

What you see here is the audio result --

Ovdje vidite rezultat skupine koja je slušala --

ništa nije naučeno --

no learning whatsoever --

and the video result --

i rezultat skupine pred televizorom --

no learning whatsoever.

ništa nije naučeno.

It takes a human being for babies to take their statistics.

Potreban je čovjek

da bi bebe vršile statističku obradu.

The social brain is controlling

Društveni dio mozga upravlja

dok se bebe bave statistikom.

when the babies are taking their statistics.

Želimo ući u njihov um

We want to get inside the brain and see this thing happening

i vidjeti razliku između događaja

as babies are in front of televisions, as opposed to in front of human beings.

dok su bebe pred televizorom,

i dok su pred ljudima.

Thankfully, we have a new machine, magnetoencephalography,

Na sreću, imamo novi uređaj,

magnetoencefalograf,

koji nam to omogućava.

that allows us to do this.

It looks like a hair dryer from Mars.

Izgleda kao sušilo za kosu s Marsa.

Ali je posve siguran,

But it's completely safe, completely noninvasive and silent.

potpuno neinvazivan i nečujan.

We're looking at millimeter accuracy

Gledamo milimetarsku točnost

u smislu prostorne

with regard to spatial and millisecond accuracy

i milisekundne točnosti

using 306 SQUIDs --

rabeći 306 SQUID-ove --

oni su superprovodljivi

these are superconducting quantum interference devices --

uređaji kvantne interferencije --

to pick up the magnetic fields that change as we do our thinking.

da bismo ulovili magnetna polja

koja se mijenjaju dok razmišljamo.

We're the first in the world to record babies in an MEG machine

Mi smo prvi na svijetu

koji snimamo bebe

u MEG uređaju

while they are learning.

dok one uče.

So this is little Emma.

Ovo je mala Emma.

She's a six-monther.

Ima šest mjeseci.

And she's listening to various languages in the earphones that are in her ears.

Ona sluša različite jezike

u slušalicama koje su joj u ušima.

You can see, she can move around.

Vidite, može se micati.

We're tracking her head with little pellets in a cap,

Pratimo kretanje njezine glave

pomoću kuglica u kapi,

so she's free to move completely unconstrained.

pa se ona može kretati potpuno slobodno.

It's a technical tour de force.

Ovo je tehnički tour de force.

What are we seeing?

Što vidimo?

We're seeing the baby brain.

Vidimo dječji mozak.

As the baby hears a word in her language, the auditory areas light up,

Kad beba čuje riječ na svom jeziku

slušno područje se osvijetli,

and then subsequently areas surrounding it that we think are related to coherence,

a zatim i okolna područja

za koja mislimo da se odnose na povezivanje,

getting the brain coordinated with its different areas, and causality,

koja koordiniraju različita područja mozga,

i na uzročnost,

one brain area causing another to activate.

pri čemu jedno područje mozga potiče aktiviranje drugog.

We are embarking on a grand and golden age of knowledge

Upuštamo se

u veliko i zlatno doba

znanja o razvoju dječjeg mozga.

about child's brain development.

We're going to be able to see a child's brain

Bit ćemo u stanju vidjeti dječji mozak

as they experience an emotion, as they learn to speak and read,

dok dijete doživljava emociju,

dok uči pričati i čitati,

dok rješava matematički problem,

as they solve a math problem, as they have an idea.

kada dobiva ideju.

And we're going to be able to invent brain-based interventions

I moći ćemo izumiti intervencije na temelju mozga

za djecu s teškoćama u učenju.

for children who have difficulty learning.

Just as the poets and writers described,

Baš kao što su pjesnici i pisci opisali,

we're going to be able to see, I think, that wondrous openness,

moći ćemo vidjeti, mislim,

tu čudesnu otvorenost,

potpunu i posvemašnju otvorenost,

utter and complete openness, of the mind of a child.

dječjeg uma.

In investigating the child's brain,

Istražujući dječji mozak,

we're going to uncover deep truths about what it means to be human,

otkrit ćemo duboke istine

o tome što znači biti čovjek,

i u tom procesu,

and in the process,

we may be able to help keep our own minds open to learning

možda ćemo moći pomoći vlastitom umu da ostane otvoren za učenje

tijekom cijelog našeg života.

for our entire lives.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)