Powerful Perceptual and Cognitive Abilities - PowerPoint Presentation Example

Infant Learning Presentation s Slide page, mention and Slide 2 This identifies the and work under consideration by giving its bibliographical reference. Slide 3 This article tries to determine the extent to which human beings abilities to learn languages are inherent or hardwired. The research also tries to determine the extent to which perceptual and cognitive capacities among infants are determined by the environment they grew up in. The scope of the study is broad. The authors have not specified the scope but the research information suggests that the scope could be general and that the findings could have worldwide application. The authors, especially, focus on English language versus languages used in the Balkans and suggest that English is generally easier to learn and to discriminate between different sounds. Slide 4 The central idea is that infants have more powerful perceptual and cognitive abilities than adults. Their pitch discrimination abilities can detect changes both in their native and foreign languages unlike adults who have mastery in their native language only. Infants improve their perceptual and cognitive capabilities through mastering regularities in the musical and linguistic environment. Slide 5 In so far as music is concerned, infants have more open minds than adults. This is because as people grow old they tend to focus their attention on their own culture and in the process becoming insensitive to foreign ones. Slide 6 Children are sophisticated learners. The ability to extract regularity from administered stimuli determines how independent they are on the environment they are growing up in. They are born as a blank slate and can learn any language. Therefore, their language learning abilities are innate but the environment, the incoming information, determines which language they learn. There is no musical system that is more natural than the other as some modern day composers and musicologists would want people to believe. According to them, the Western musical system was more natural than, for example, that of the Balkans. Infants have superior pitch discrimination abilities than adults in native and foreign contexts. However, adults have superior abilities in the native context alone. Slide 7 Article well written- The article has been clearly woven to show the relationship between language and music and how they are influenced upon an infant. The article does not employ a technical language or overuse vocabularies in explaining its points; a lay person could understand it. However, the authors are careful not to water down the document too much. The target audience has been identified- Even though the authors do not explicitly state the target audience, the level of language, jargon and examples given point out that the article is meant for psychologists and other players in pedagogic psychiatry. Slide 8 Difficult or unfamiliar terms are defined- The authors understand that the audience may not be familiar with some terms especially those used outside the psychology of learning and education field. For instance, the authors takes time to define and operationalize the word “metre” as used in musical terms. They define it as the pulse used to differentiate musical strokes, for example, a waltz from a march. The definition of the word and illustration are extremely useful in helping the reader grasp the meaning and context of its use. There is no use of illustration, graphs and tables- This is right since it was really unnecessary to employ them. The text is self-explanatory and did not require any of those components to compliment it. Suggestions for further research are provided- The authors point out the areas that need further research so that other researchers can explore the research ideas. For instance, the authors note that a lot of research has centered on determining the extent to which the perceptual and cognitive abilities are determined by the environment and to what extent it is hardwired. The authors suggest that research should now focus on whether adults can learn at all what they did not learn as infants, that is, to explore other ways that adults can recapture the power they once possessed as adults and yet did not utilize it. Some research that has been conducted in this area has established that adults can actually repossess those perceptual and cognitive abilities but they are using a lot of force and will power to overcome their limitations. Slide 9 References used are relevant and important- The references used are pertinent and the authors of those articles, for example, Saffran, Hannon and Trehub are some of the guiding lights in studying the psychology of learning. The authors identify, describe and refute some arguments put forward to explain the phenomena under study. For instance, the authors gives an illustration of how German Emperor, Fredrick II, tried to prove that German was the natural language after alleging that even if kids are not taught any other language they will grow up speaking German. The authors then go ahead to show why this hypothesis and methodology used to verify it was faulted. The authors use counterarguments to advance their points. Slide 10 The objective of the study is not explicated- The objective of the study is not clear. It is therefore hard to tell whether the researchers accomplished their objectives. The hypothesis that children are better learners than adults and that these perceptual and cognitive abilities decrease, especially with regard to foreign languages, is clearly established and proven at the end. Solutions not provided- The authors simply note the existing phenomena and point the direction where future research should take. The paper establishes that infants are more adept at detecting rhythmic changes both in their native language and in a foreign language. The paper should have indicated why these perceptual and cognitive abilities in foreign language diminish as one grows up and how adults can recapture the power they had in their infancy. Slide 11 The sources used are old- The authors have used information from 11 sources yet only two of the sources are written in the 21st Century. The author should have used more contemporary sources since they reflect contemporary knowledge. Slide 12 One of the implications is that better multi-language individuals start learning from their infancy. The more languages an infant is familiarized with the more languages he or she can learn later on in life. Pitch discrimination should be induced as soon as possible after the child is born. A child, regardless of where born, can learn any language. If a child is reared in a neutral environment, that is, where there is no dominant language then no language will be learnt. Slide 13 All languages are easy to learn provided the learning process starts at infancy. There is no musical system that is superior to another. Education is a life-long process. Even though the cognitive and perceptual abilities in relation to foreign languages decreases as a person ages, adults can still learn and recapture the powers they had at their infancy. No one is, therefore, too old to learn new languages. Slide 14 This article is rich in knowledge and very informative on psychology of learning and education. After reviewing the document I have learnt that human beings are hardwired with perceptual and cognitive abilities at birth. The sooner these abilities are tested and harnessed, the more the retention capacity. As the infants grow they lose the ability to differentiate pitch changes in different languages. The research conducted by Hannon and Trehub showed that infants aged less than 6 months have the ability to learn specific and universal sounds, by the age of 12 months they already have lost the ability and require an active two weeks stimulus for the abilities to be reacquired. I also learnt that children learn primarily through experience; that is the sole reason why infants are inclined towards learning the dominant language. Therefore, children are a blank slate and can learn any language; no language is more natural than the other. Slide 15 These are the references. 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