How children may pick up a language (Humans)

by David Turell , Saturday, May 07, 2016, 22:39 (3123 days ago) @ David Turell

A new study suggests they easily recognize patterns, but not as a built in grammar as has been proposed:-https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160505222938.htm
the study found children who were better at identifying patterns in non-verbal tasks also had better knowledge of grammar.-"The study found children who were better at identifying patterns in non-verbal tasks also had better knowledge of grammar.-"Even when other important factors such as intelligence and memory were taken into consideration, the findings still suggest the skill of pattern learning is strongly associated with language development.-***-"Published in Child Development, the study assessed 68 children aged six to eight years on two critical yet separate tests -- one on grammatical knowledge and the other a visual pattern learning task including an exposure phase (where children aren't asked to learn anything) and a surprise test phase.-"There was a strong connection between those who were able to identify the patterns in a seemingly trivial series of alien cartoon sequences on the computer, and those who performed better on the grammar test.-"Psycholinguist Associate Professor Joanne Arciuli from the University of Sydney said the research shows children have a remarkable capacity to learn without conscious awareness.-***-"'The study tells us that we have a whole lot of little statisticians running around," said Associate Professor Arciuli, co-author of the study and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow.-"'Unbeknownst to children themselves their brains are constantly computing these patterns or statistics -- for example which words co-occur regularly, which words follow others, and different contexts in which words are used."-"'Their ability to identify patterns is very much related to how they learn to use the conventions of language.'"-Comment: Aging has slowed my learning capacity. When quite young everything I studied stuck like glue. This may refute Chomsky, but the study is an assumption by association, not proof.