Most of us love to do baby talk; some more than others. With our cute “choo choo”, “wa wa”, and “din dins”; it’s all befitting given we are talking to a teeny person who isn’t talking yet.
However, accordingly to latest research conducted by researchers at Northwestern University in the US; it appears that people using words rather than baby talk or sounds with babies; are helping them to categorise objects with words.
Three-month-old infants were shown pictures of objects which were then combined with the actual word or with beeps. For example, they were shown a pictures of fish and told, “Look at the toma!” – a made up word. Other infants were shown the pictures with a series of beeps. Then researchers measured which object – fish or a dinosaur – they looked at in conjunction with either the word or beeps.
What they discovered was quite significant. Both groups were exposed to the same pictures; however it was the group that heard the word that identified and formed the category fish. Those who heard tones did not.
This research aids the goal of Baby Signs program; it lets us know that babies can connect with nuances of language far earlier than they can speak it; which is the foundation of the Baby Signs program.
It’s something we’ve always known, though now there is more evidence to support it.
29/04/2012
