The linguistic genius of babies | Patricia Kuhl

譯者: Wang-Ju Tsai 審譯者: Joan Liu

請大家看一看這個小嬰兒

I want you to take a look at this baby.

你會被她的眼睛所吸引

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

你也會想摸摸她粉嫩的肌膚

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

但是今天我要跟大家談談你所看不到的東西

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

在她的小腦袋裏發生的事情。

The modern tools of neuroscience are demonstrating to us

現代的腦神經科學的儀器

能向我們顯示腦袋瓜裏發生的

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

是十分神奇奧妙的事。

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

而我們研究的結果

將會帶領我們一窺

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

浪漫詩人和作家所描述的

小孩心靈那有如

of the child's mind.

“天體般的公開”。

這裡我們看到的

What we see here is a mother in India,

是個在印度的媽媽

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

她說的是一個叫做Koro的語言

這是一個新發現的語言。

她正在跟她的嬰兒講話

And she's talking to her baby.

這個媽媽

What this mother --

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

和全世界總共800個講Koro的人

understands is that, to preserve this language,

都很清楚，想要保存這個語言的話

那就必須跟新生兒說這個語言。

they need to speak it to the babies.

And therein lies a critical puzzle.

這裡面有個關鍵的謎題

Why is it that you can't preserve a language

爲什麽跟你我這樣的成年人說

by speaking to you and I, to the adults?

是無法保存這個語言的呢？

這個，跟你我的大腦有關。

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

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

我們這裡的意思是說

學習語言有一段關鍵的時期。

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

這張投影片X軸是你的年齡

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

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

垂直的Y軸

是你學習第二外語的能力。

嬰兒和幼童在七嵗以前

The babies and children are geniuses until they turn seven,

都是學習語言的天才

and then there's a systematic decline.

七嵗以後能力就遞減。

After puberty, we fall off the map.

青春期以後就掉到圖的外面了。

所有的科學家都同意這條曲綫

No scientists dispute this curve,

but laboratories all over the world

但是全世界的各大實驗室

are trying to figure out why it works this way.

想盡辦法要找出原因來解釋這個現象。

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

我的實驗室裏的研究專注在

發展過程裏最早的關鍵時期

and that is the period in which babies

也就是嬰兒建立學習語言

try to master which sounds are used in their language.

用到的語音的集合的時期。

我們想，藉著研究語音是如何學起來的

We think, by studying how the sounds are learned,

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

我們就能把剩下的學習語言的機制建立起來，

and perhaps for critical periods that may exist in childhood

甚至還能把嬰兒學習社交能力

for social, emotional and cognitive development.

情緒、認知能力的關鍵時期

也找出來。

So we've been studying the babies

所以我們研究小嬰兒

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

我們用了一個技巧

and the sounds of all languages.

適用於各地的嬰兒和所有的語言。

The baby sits on a parent's lap,

我們把嬰兒放在媽媽的大腿上

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

我們訓練嬰兒，當聽到語音改變時會轉頭

像從“ah”變成“ee”時。

like from "ah" to "ee."

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

如果他們在對的時間轉頭

這個黑盒子就會亮起來

and a panda bear pounds a drum.

熊貓也會開始敲鼓。

A six-monther adores the task.

六個月大的小嬰兒很喜歡這個遊戲。

那麽，我們得到什麽結果？

What have we learned?

Well, babies all over the world

世界上所有的嬰兒

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

—我常常喜歡稱呼他們為

世界公民—

They can discriminate all the sounds of all languages,

都有能力去分辨所有語言的所有語音

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

不論我們在哪一國用哪一個語言測試。

這是了不起的，因爲這件事你我都辦不到。

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

我們的聽力是受到我們的文化束縛的。

We're culture-bound listeners.

我們只能分辨我們自己語言裏的語音

We can discriminate the sounds of our own language,

別的語言裏的語音我們是聼不出有什麽不同的。

but not those of foreign languages.

所以問題就來了

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

什麽時候這些一生下來為世界公民的小嬰兒

turn into the language-bound listeners that we are?

會變成像你我一樣只懂得單一語言呢？

And the answer: before their first birthdays.

答案是：一歲以前。

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

你這裡看到的是嬰兒轉頭測試

for babies tested in Tokyo and the United States,

在東京和在美國的

在這裡西雅圖作的

here in Seattle,

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

他們分別聼“ra”和“la”

sounds important to English, but not to Japanese.

這兩個在英語不一樣但在日語裏沒差別的音。

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

六到八個月的嬰兒的表現完全一樣

Two months later, something incredible occurs.

兩個月後，不可思議的事發生了。

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

在美國的嬰兒分辨得越來越好

在日本的卻是越來越差，

babies in Japan are getting a lot worse,

這兩組嬰兒正是同處在

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

準備學習母語的階段。

that they are going to learn.

所以，我們要問，在這關鍵的兩個月

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

發生了什麽事？

This is the critical period for sound development,

這個階段是語音發展的階段

在嬰兒的腦袋裏發生了什麽事？

but what's going on up there?

So there are two things going on.

有兩件事發生了

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

第一是，嬰兒很密集地聼我們的發聲

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

他們一邊聼一邊在腦袋中作統計

他們在做統計。

they're taking statistics.

聼兩個媽媽在說「母語」——

So listen to two mothers speaking motherese --

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

也就是所有的媽媽跟小孩說的話——

first in English and then in Japanese.

先是英語，再來是日語。

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

（影像）美國媽媽：啊，我好喜歡你的藍眼睛

so pretty and nice.

好漂亮，好美喔。

(Japanese)

日本媽媽：[日語]

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

Patricia Kuhl ：在學習語音的階段

當嬰兒聼的時候

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

他們是在做統計

在統計他們聽到的語言。

And those distributions grow.

語音的分佈情況也會改變

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

我們現在知道的是

嬰兒們對語言統計很敏感

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

而英日語語音的統計分佈是十分不同的。

English has a lot of Rs and Ls.

英語有很多的“R”和“L”

The distribution shows.

從這裡可以看出。

And the distribution of Japanese is totally different,

日語的語音分佈是完全不同的

我們可以看到有一群語音分佈於L和R之間

where we see a group of intermediate sounds,

就是所謂的日語的R。

which is known as the Japanese "R."

So babies absorb the statistics of the language

嬰兒會吸收

語言語音的統計分佈

and it changes their brains;

而這會進而改變他們的腦。

it changes them from the citizens of the world

這會使他們從世界公民

to the culture-bound listeners that we are.

轉變成跟我們一樣受自己的文化所限制。

But we as adults are no longer absorbing those statistics.

我們已經長成

不會再吸收這些統計的結果了。

我們也就受制於

We are governed by the representations in memory

that were formed early in development.

早期在發展時期形成的記憶。

So what we're seeing here

所以我們這裡看到的

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

是在這個關鍵時期語音分佈模型的改變。

We're arguing from a mathematical standpoint

我們從數學的觀點來看

that the learning of language material may slow down

語言資訊的學習速度在分配達到穩定後

when our distributions stabilize.

就會慢下來。

It's raising lots of questions about bilingual people.

對會雙語的人來説，這裡面有很多疑問。

會雙語的人必須保留兩套統計資料

Bilinguals must keep two sets of statistics in mind at once

並且在這兩套間換來換去

and flip between them, one after the other,

隨著對話的對象不同換成不同的統計。

depending on who they're speaking to.

So we asked ourselves,

所以我們問自己

can the babies take statistics on a brand new language?

小嬰兒可以對新的語言作統計嗎？

And we tested this by exposing American babies

我們測試了這個假設，

讓處在發展關鍵時期

who'd never heard a second language

但從未聼過其他語言的美國嬰兒聼國語。

to Mandarin for the first time during the critical period.

我們已經知道，用國語測試單語的嬰兒

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

在臺北或西雅圖嬰兒

on the Mandarin sounds, they showed the same pattern.

他們顯示相同的模式

Six to eight months, they're totally equivalent.

六、八月大的嬰兒，完全一樣。

兩個月以後，不可思議的事發生了。

Two months later, something incredible happens.

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

臺灣的嬰兒變得更好，美國的沒有。

我們接下來讓美國的嬰兒

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

聼國語。

就好像有說國語的親戚來拜訪一個月

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

住在你家裏

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

並且跟嬰兒說了12場的話。

Here's what it looked like in the laboratory.

這是一段在實驗室的影片

（影片）國語：

(Mandarin)

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

所以，這些小腦袋瓜裏發生了什麽事？

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

We had to run a control group to make sure

我們必須另外跑一組控制組

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

來證明光進一趟實驗室

是不能改善你的國語能力的。

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

所以有一組嬰兒來實驗室但是聼英語。

And we can see from the graph

我們可以從圖上看到

that exposure to English didn't improve their Mandarin.

對英語有所接觸並不能改善他們的國語。

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

但是看看聼了12場國語的嬰兒

有什麽改變？

They were as good as the babies in Taiwan

他們的國語就跟住在臺灣

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

聼了十個月半國語的嬰兒一樣好。

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

這顯示了嬰兒有能力

對新的語言來做統計。

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

他們聽到的是什麽語言，他們都能做統計。

But we wondered what role

我們也想知道

the human being played in this learning exercise.

真人的出現在這個學習裏面

扮演著什麽樣的角色。

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

所以我們又測試了另一組嬰兒

也是聼了12場的國語

the same 12 sessions, but over a television set.

但是是透過電視（視覺組）

And another group of babies who had just audio exposure

還另外有一組嬰兒同樣是由電視聼國語

and looked at a teddy bear on the screen.

但是螢幕上只有泰迪熊（聽覺組）。

這對他們的大腦有什麽影響？

What did we do to their brains?

What you see here is the audio result --

這裡你看到的是聽覺組的結果

完全沒有學到什麽

no learning whatsoever --

and the video result --

這是視覺組的結果

no learning whatsoever.

也沒有學到東西。

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

所以小嬰兒只會對真人的

聲音作統計。

The social brain is controlling

小嬰兒作語音統計的時候，

是由社交的大腦來控制。

when the babies are taking their statistics.

我們想進入大腦裏面

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

看看這個過程的發生

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

看看小嬰兒在真人和電視前

大腦裏有什麽不同。

Thankfully, we have a new machine, magnetoencephalography,

很幸運，我們有個新的機器

腦磁圖監測儀

能幫我們做到。

that allows us to do this.

It looks like a hair dryer from Mars.

這看起來像火星來的吹風機

但是這是完全安全的

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

非侵入性，不產生噪音。

We're looking at millimeter accuracy

我們的準確度可以達到一公釐

在時間上準確度

with regard to spatial and millisecond accuracy

可達千分之一秒

using 306 SQUIDs --

我們使用了306個SQUID腦磁圖通道

這些都是超導體

these are superconducting quantum interference devices --

量子干涉儀（SQUID）

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

這可以偵測到當我們思考時

大腦磁場的改變。

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

我們是全世界第一個

用腦磁儀來記錄

嬰兒學習時

while they are learning.

腦波的變化。

So this is little Emma.

這是小Emma

She's a six-monther.

她六個月大。

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

她用耳機

在聼著不同的語言。

You can see, she can move around.

你可以看到，她可以自由擺動

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

我們用她頭盔裏的小偵測器

來追蹤她的頭，

so she's free to move completely unconstrained.

所以她可以完全自由地擺動

It's a technical tour de force.

這是科技的精心傑作。

What are we seeing?

我們在看什麽？

We're seeing the baby brain.

我們在看嬰兒的腦袋

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

當嬰兒聼到她母語裏的字的時候

聽覺區會亮起來

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

接著臨近區域也會亮起來

我們認爲這是和連貫性有關

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

使大腦協調裏面不同的區域

還有因果順序

one brain area causing another to activate.

不同的區域會活化其他不同的區域

We are embarking on a grand and golden age of knowledge

在有關嬰兒大腦發展的知識上

我們進入了前所未有的

黃金時期。

about child's brain development.

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

我們能看見小嬰兒

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

當他們產生情緒

當他們學説話和閲讀

當他們思考數學問題的解答

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

當他們有個主意時，腦袋裏的變化。

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

我們也將能發明針對腦部的治療

來醫治有學習障礙的小孩。

for children who have difficulty learning.

Just as the poets and writers described,

跟詩人和作家所說的一樣

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

我想，我們將能夠看到

那不可思議的公開

小孩的心靈

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

純粹和完全的公開。

In investigating the child's brain,

在研究小孩的大腦的同時

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

我們也將能解開

「人類是什麽？」這個深奧的事實，

在研究的過程中

and in the process,

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

我們也能使我們的心靈

保持在終身學習的狀態。

for our entire lives.

Thank you.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

（掌聲）