The linguistic genius of babies | Patricia Kuhl

Translator: Lenka Tušar Reviewer: Nika Ambrožič

Poglejte tega dojenčka.

I want you to take a look at this baby.

Izstopajo njene oči

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

in mehka koža.

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

Danes pa bom govorila o nečem nevidnem,

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

in sicer o dogajanju v njenih možganih.

The modern tools of neuroscience are demonstrating to us

S sodobnimi orodji nevroznanosti

lahko vidimo, da so procesi v možganih

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

primer neverjetne znanosti.

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

Kar raziskujemo,

bo osvetlilo področje,

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

ki mu romantični pisci in pesniki pravijo

"nebeška odprtost"

of the child's mind.

otroškega uma.

Tu vidimo

What we see here is a mother in India,

mati v Indiji,

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

ki govori jezik koro,

pred kratkim odkrit jezik.

Pogovarja se s svojim otrokom.

And she's talking to her baby.

Ta mati

What this mother --

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

in še 800 govorcev kora ve,

understands is that, to preserve this language,

da morajo za ohranitev jezika

govoriti s svojimi otroki.

they need to speak it to the babies.

And therein lies a critical puzzle.

V tem tiči ključ.

Why is it that you can't preserve a language

Zakaj se jezika ne da ohraniti

by speaking to you and I, to the adults?

preko govora med odraslimi, med mano in vami?

Razlog je v možganih.

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

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

Tu vidimo,

da ima jezik kritično obdobje za učenje.

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

Na vodoravni osi je starost v letih.

(Smeh)

(Laughter)

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

Navpična os pa prikazuje

vašo sposobnost osvajanja novega jezika.

Dojenčki in otroci so geniji

The babies and children are geniuses until they turn seven,

do njihovega sedmega leta,

and then there's a systematic decline.

nato pa ta sposobnost upada.

After puberty, we fall off the map.

Po puberteti gre samo še navzdol.

Znanstveniki tem dejstvom ne oporekajo,

No scientists dispute this curve,

but laboratories all over the world

laboratoriji po vsem svetu

are trying to figure out why it works this way.

pa poskušajo dognati, zakaj pride do tega.

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

V našem laboratoriju se osredotočamo

na prvo kritično obdobje razvoja,

and that is the period in which babies

obdobje, v katerem dojenčki poskušajo ugotoviti,

try to master which sounds are used in their language.

kateri glasovi pripadajo njihovemu jeziku.

S preučevanjem učenja glasov

We think, by studying how the sounds are learned,

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

želimo doseči model za ostala področja jezika

and perhaps for critical periods that may exist in childhood

in morda celo za kritična obdobja otroštva

for social, emotional and cognitive development.

za socialni, čustveni

in spoznavni razvoj.

So we've been studying the babies

Dojenčke smo preučevali

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

s tehniko, razširjeno po vsem svetu,

and the sounds of all languages.

in z zvoki vseh jezikov.

The baby sits on a parent's lap,

Dojenček sedi v starševem naročju,

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

mi pa jih naučimo, da se obrnejo vsakič,

ko se zvok spremeni, kot iz "a" v "i".

like from "ah" to "ee."

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

Če jim to uspe ob pravem trenutku,

se črna škatla zasveti

and a panda bear pounds a drum.

in panda udari na boben.

A six-monther adores the task.

Šestmesečni malčki obožujejo to nalogo.

Kaj smo ugotovili?

What have we learned?

Well, babies all over the world

Dojenčki celega sveta so,

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

kakor jim sama pravim,

državljani sveta.

They can discriminate all the sounds of all languages,

Lahko razločijo vse glasove vseh jezikov,

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

ne glede na državo in jezik,

kar je izjemno, saj mi tega ne zmoremo.

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

Mi smo družbeno omejeni poslušalci.

We're culture-bound listeners.

Lahko razločimo glasove našega jezika,

We can discriminate the sounds of our own language,

ne pa tudi tujih jezikov.

but not those of foreign languages.

Postavlja se vprašanje,

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

kdaj se ti državljani sveta

turn into the language-bound listeners that we are?

spremenijo v družbeno omejene poslušalce.

And the answer: before their first birthdays.

Odgovor pa je: pred prvim rojstnim dnem.

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

Tu vidite, kako so se na nalogo obračanja glave

for babies tested in Tokyo and the United States,

odzvali dojenčki v Tokiju in ZDA,

tu v Seattlu,

here in Seattle,

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

ko so poslušali glasove "ra" in "la",

sounds important to English, but not to Japanese.

ki so pomembni za angleščino, a ne za japonščino.

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

Dojenčki, stari med šest in osem let, se ne razlikujejo.

Two months later, something incredible occurs.

Po dveh mesecih pa se zgodi nekaj neverjetnega.

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

Dojenčkom iz ZDA gre veliko bolje,

japonskim pa veliko slabše,

babies in Japan are getting a lot worse,

saj se obe skupini otrok pripravljata

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

na jezik, ki se ga bosta naučili.

that they are going to learn.

Zanima nas, kaj se dogaja

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

v tej dvomesečni kritični dobi?

This is the critical period for sound development,

To je kritično obdobje za razvoj zvoka,

a kaj se dogaja v možganih?

but what's going on up there?

So there are two things going on.

Dve stvari.

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

Prvič, dojenčki nas pozorno poslušajo

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

in med poslušanjem

izvajajo statistiko.

they're taking statistics.

Poslušajte dve materi, ki govorita materinsko,

So listen to two mothers speaking motherese --

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

univerzalen jezik za govorjenje otrokom,

first in English and then in Japanese.

v angleščini in nato v japonščini.

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

(Video) V angleščini: O, kakšne lepe velike modre oči imaš,

so pretty and nice.

tako lepe in srčkane.

(Japanese)

(Japonščina)

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

Medtem ko mi govorimo,

dojenčki poslušajo

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

in delajo statistiko

jezika, ki ga slišijo.

And those distributions grow.

Te porazdelitve rastejo.

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

Ugotovili smo,

da dojenčki razumejo statistiko,

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

ki pa se med angleščino in japonščino zelo razlikuje.

English has a lot of Rs and Ls.

Angleščina ima veliko r-jev in l-jev.

The distribution shows.

To lahko vidimo na tabeli.

And the distribution of Japanese is totally different,

Porazdelitev pri japonščini je zelo drugačna,

kjer vidimo skupino vmesnega glasu,

where we see a group of intermediate sounds,

znanega kot "japonski r".

which is known as the Japanese "R."

So babies absorb the statistics of the language

Dojenčki prevzamejo

statistiko jezika,

and it changes their brains;

kar vpliva na njihove možgane

it changes them from the citizens of the world

in jih iz državljanov sveta spremeni v

to the culture-bound listeners that we are.

kulturno omejene poslušalce, kot smo mi.

But we as adults are no longer absorbing those statistics.

Mi odrasli

teh statistik ne prepoznamo več.

Vodijo nas predstave v spominu,

We are governed by the representations in memory

that were formed early in development.

ki izhajajo iz zgodnjega razvoja.

So what we're seeing here

Ugotovitve torej spreminjajo

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

naša videnja kritičnega obdobja.

We're arguing from a mathematical standpoint

Z matematičnega stališča trdimo,

that the learning of language material may slow down

da se učenje jezikovne snovi upočasnjuje

when our distributions stabilize.

z umirjanjem statistik.

It's raising lots of questions about bilingual people.

Veliko vprašanj se pojavlja o dvojezičnih ljudeh.

Dvojezični morajo namreč ohranjati dva niza statistik

Bilinguals must keep two sets of statistics in mind at once

in izmenično izbirati med njima

and flip between them, one after the other,

glede na njihovega sogovorca.

depending on who they're speaking to.

So we asked ourselves,

Vprašali smo se,

can the babies take statistics on a brand new language?

ali lahko dojenčki ustvarijo statistiko povsem novega jezika?

And we tested this by exposing American babies

Za ta namen smo ameriške dojenčke,

ki še niso slišali drugega jezika,

who'd never heard a second language

mandarinščini izpostavili prvič v kritičnem obdobju.

to Mandarin for the first time during the critical period.

Vedeli smo, da so enojezični dojenčki v Taipeju in Seattlu

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

ob poslušanju glasov mandarinščine

on the Mandarin sounds, they showed the same pattern.

pokazali enak vzorec.

Six to eight months, they're totally equivalent.

Med šestimi in osmimi meseci med njimi ni bilo razlik.

Po dveh mesecih pa se je zgodilo nekaj neverjetnega.

Two months later, something incredible happens.

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

Tajvanski dojenčki so postajali boljši, ameriški pa zaostajali.

Ameriške dojenčke smo v tem obdodju

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

izpostavili mandarinščini.

Kot bi prišli na enomesečni obisk sorodniki s Kitajske,

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

se nastanili k vam domov

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

in se dvanajstkrat pogovarjali z otroki.

Here's what it looked like in the laboratory.

Tako je bilo to videti pri nas.

(Video) (V mandarinščini)

(Mandarin)

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

Kaj smo naredili tem malim možganom?

(Smeh)

(Laughter)

We had to run a control group to make sure

Nadzorna skupina je morala zagotoviti,

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

da si zgolj s prihodom v laboratorij

ni izboljšala znanja mandarinščine.

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

Nato je prišla skupina dojenčkov in poslušala angleščino.

And we can see from the graph

Na prikazu lahko vidimo,

that exposure to English didn't improve their Mandarin.

da izpostavljenost angleščini ni izboljšala njihove mandarinščine.

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

Kaj pa se zgodi dojenčkom,

izpostavljenim mandarinščini v 12 nizih?

They were as good as the babies in Taiwan

Postali so tako dobri kot tajvanski dojenčki,

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

ki so svoj jezik poslušali deset mesecev in pol.

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

Izkazalo se je,

da dojenčki ustvarijo statistiko novega jezika.

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

Karkoli jim predstavite, bodo spremenili v statistiko.

But we wondered what role

Spraševali smo se,

the human being played in this learning exercise.

kakšnega pomena ima človek

pri teh vajah učenja.

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

Druga skupina dojenčkov

je bila prav tako na 12 nizih,

the same 12 sessions, but over a television set.

ki pa so potekali preko tv sprejemnika,

And another group of babies who had just audio exposure

tretja skupina pa je poslušala le zvoke

and looked at a teddy bear on the screen.

in gledala medvedka na ekranu.

Kaj smo naredili z njihovimi možgani?

What did we do to their brains?

What you see here is the audio result --

Tu vidite rezultat poslušanja,

pri katerem učenje ne napreduje,

no learning whatsoever --

and the video result --

ter rezultat gledanja in poslušanja,

no learning whatsoever.

prav tako brez napredka.

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

Le človeško posredovanje jezika

omogoči dojenčkom ustvarjanje statistik.

The social brain is controlling

Njihovi socialni možgani odločajo,

kdaj lahko pride do statistike.

when the babies are taking their statistics.

Radi bi vstopili v možgane

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

in od blizu videli, kaj se dogaja,

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

ko so dojenčki pred TV sprejemnikom

oz. poslušajo druge ljudi.

Thankfully, we have a new machine, magnetoencephalography,

Na srečo imamo novo napravo,

imenovano magnetni encefalogram,

ki nam to omogoča.

that allows us to do this.

It looks like a hair dryer from Mars.

Videti je kot marsovska havba.

Je popolnoma varna,

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

neinvazivna in tiha.

We're looking at millimeter accuracy

Z milimetrsko natančnostjo

v prostorskem smislu

with regard to spatial and millisecond accuracy

in v časovnem do milisekunde točno,

using 306 SQUIDs --

preko 306 SQUIDov -

superprevodnih naprav

these are superconducting quantum interference devices --

za kvantno interferenco -

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

lahko opazujemo magnetna polja,

ki se spreminjajo glede na misli.

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

Prvi na svetu

smo posneli dojenčke

z napravo MEG

while they are learning.

med njihovim učenjem.

So this is little Emma.

To je mala Emma.

She's a six-monther.

Stara je šest mesecev.

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

Različne jezike posluša

preko slušalk v ušesih.

You can see, she can move around.

Kot vidite, se lahko giblje.

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

Njeno glavo spremljamo

preko kroglic v kapici,

so she's free to move completely unconstrained.

zato je prosta, da se giblje.

It's a technical tour de force.

Priča smo izjemnemu dosežku.

What are we seeing?

Kaj vidimo?

We're seeing the baby brain.

Dojenčkove možgane.

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

Ko zasliši besedo v njenem jeziku,

se odzovejo območja za slušno zaznavanje

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

in za njimi sosednja območja,

za katera menimo, da so povezana s koherenco

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

oz. uskladitvijo možganov med različnimi območji,

in vzročnostjo,

one brain area causing another to activate.

ki povzroči, da eno področje spodbudi drugo.

We are embarking on a grand and golden age of knowledge

Začenjamo z veliko

in zlato dobo

poznavanja razvoja otroških možganov.

about child's brain development.

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

Lahko jih bomo opazovali

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

med doživljanjem čustev,

med učenjem govora in branja,

reševanja matematičnega problema

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

ali ko dobijo zamisel.

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

Lahko bomo izvedli posege na možganih

za otroke, ki imajo učne težave.

for children who have difficulty learning.

Just as the poets and writers described,

Kot so že pesniki in pisci opisali,

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

mislim, da bomo lahko videli

čudovito odprtost,

popolno in celovito odprtost

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

otroškega uma.

In investigating the child's brain,

Preučevanje otroških možganov

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

nas bo privedlo do globokih resnic

o pomenu biti človek

in tako bomo morda lahko ohranili

and in the process,

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

naše misli odprte za učenje

skozi celo življenje.

for our entire lives.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)