November 18, 2009
Babies begin learning a language in the womb.
The “cry melodies“ of newborns vary with the language they
heard during their fetal life.
Babies begin learning a language in the womb.
The “cry melodies“ of newborns vary with the language they
heard during their fetal life.
SUMMARY: From their very first days, newborn babies cry differently
depending upon what language their parents speak, evidence that learning
has already started in the womb. This is the conclusion of a study which
involved 60 healthy newborns three to five days old, 30 of which were born
into French-speaking families and 30 born into German-speaking families. The
findings were published online in the Nov. 5 Current Biology.
According to study participant Kathleen Wermke of the U. of Wurzburg in
Germany, newborns are capable of "different cry melodies" and produce
"melody patterns" which resemble the language they heard during their fetal
life. In the study the French newborns tended to cry with a rising melody
contour while the German newborns seemed to prefer a falling melody contour
in their crying. These patterns are consistent with the different characteristics
of the two languages.
Human fetuses can memorize sounds from the external world during the last
trimester of pregnancy, and they prefer their mother's voice over others. They
also can perceive the emotional content of messages by means of the
intonation in their mother's voice. While the scientists said skills in articulation
tend to develop a few months after birth, they had formerly thought the
surrounding language affected sound production much later in life.
“Newborns are probably highly motivated to imitate their mother’s behavior in
order to attract her and hence to foster bonding,” they wrote. “Because
melody contour may be the only aspect of their mother’s speech that
newborns are able to imitate, this might explain why we found melody contour
imitation at that early age.”
To read the entire article, click on this link to WORLD SCIENCE.
COMMENT: How much more evidence is needed to convince the world that
unborn children are real children entitled to all the protections that born
children enjoy? There is a lot of truth to the observation that the only basic
difference between a pre-born child and one already born is the change in
residence.
We know unborn children can feel pain, can yawn, and appear to be able to
smile. They can suck their thumbs and move their limbs. Now this study shows
they not only can hear, but they can also learn from what they hear. Some
jurisdictions wisely regard unborn children as fully human in the sense that a
person can be convicted of a serious crime when he kills a fetus. Just recently
a Pennsylvania man was convicted of killing two persons, a mother and her
unborn child. Legal cases like this one make elective abortion contradictory
because in such situations a mother-to-be can to do away with her unborn
child without penalty if she so chooses.
It is best for everyone to give human life the high regard that the Bible does.
Most Christians, I am sure, have heard the Bible passages (such as
Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 1:5) that support the fact that unborn babies are fully
human. Whatever difficulties having a baby might pose for mother or father,
the difficulties can be more than compensated for by the joys the growing child
can provide when raised with love and in the faith. Then both mother and
children can together eventually enjoy the gift of eternal happiness in heaven
available to all through faith in Jesus Christ.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
What is the leading cause of injury for young women athletes?
**************************************************************************************
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containing alternate views. However, comments containing profanity or
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several hours for it to appear on the blog.
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depending upon what language their parents speak, evidence that learning
has already started in the womb. This is the conclusion of a study which
involved 60 healthy newborns three to five days old, 30 of which were born
into French-speaking families and 30 born into German-speaking families. The
findings were published online in the Nov. 5 Current Biology.
According to study participant Kathleen Wermke of the U. of Wurzburg in
Germany, newborns are capable of "different cry melodies" and produce
"melody patterns" which resemble the language they heard during their fetal
life. In the study the French newborns tended to cry with a rising melody
contour while the German newborns seemed to prefer a falling melody contour
in their crying. These patterns are consistent with the different characteristics
of the two languages.
Human fetuses can memorize sounds from the external world during the last
trimester of pregnancy, and they prefer their mother's voice over others. They
also can perceive the emotional content of messages by means of the
intonation in their mother's voice. While the scientists said skills in articulation
tend to develop a few months after birth, they had formerly thought the
surrounding language affected sound production much later in life.
“Newborns are probably highly motivated to imitate their mother’s behavior in
order to attract her and hence to foster bonding,” they wrote. “Because
melody contour may be the only aspect of their mother’s speech that
newborns are able to imitate, this might explain why we found melody contour
imitation at that early age.”
To read the entire article, click on this link to WORLD SCIENCE.
COMMENT: How much more evidence is needed to convince the world that
unborn children are real children entitled to all the protections that born
children enjoy? There is a lot of truth to the observation that the only basic
difference between a pre-born child and one already born is the change in
residence.
We know unborn children can feel pain, can yawn, and appear to be able to
smile. They can suck their thumbs and move their limbs. Now this study shows
they not only can hear, but they can also learn from what they hear. Some
jurisdictions wisely regard unborn children as fully human in the sense that a
person can be convicted of a serious crime when he kills a fetus. Just recently
a Pennsylvania man was convicted of killing two persons, a mother and her
unborn child. Legal cases like this one make elective abortion contradictory
because in such situations a mother-to-be can to do away with her unborn
child without penalty if she so chooses.
It is best for everyone to give human life the high regard that the Bible does.
Most Christians, I am sure, have heard the Bible passages (such as
Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 1:5) that support the fact that unborn babies are fully
human. Whatever difficulties having a baby might pose for mother or father,
the difficulties can be more than compensated for by the joys the growing child
can provide when raised with love and in the faith. Then both mother and
children can together eventually enjoy the gift of eternal happiness in heaven
available to all through faith in Jesus Christ.
**************************************************************************************
Want to be automatically notified each time there is a new post? Just e-mail your
request to [admin@lutheranscience.org].
**************************************************************************************
QUESTION OF THE DAY
What is the leading cause of injury for young women athletes?
**************************************************************************************
NOTE ON VISITOR COMMENTS: Visitor comments are invited including those
containing alternate views. However, comments containing profanity or
advertisements will not be published. After posting a comment, please allow
several hours for it to appear on the blog.
**************************************************************************************
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| LSI stands for the Lutheran Science Institute, an organization of WELS and ELS Lutherans interested in science and health issues with a special emphasis on the creation and evolution controversy. This blog's purpose is to search the Internet to find articles of interest to Christians. Views expressed are those of the author (Warren Krug) and are not necessarily those of the Lutheran Science Institute, Inc. |
Cheerleading. Most cheerleading injuries are
relatively minor, such as muscle strains. Yet the
activity also accounts for two-thirds of catastrophic
female athlete injuries in high school and college
which result in death or disability. Competitive
cheerleading is leading to an increase in difficulty of
cheerleading routines, and not all cheerleading
coaches are adequately trained.
Source: Amy Miller Boh, M.D., as reported in Bottom
Line (December 1, 2009)
relatively minor, such as muscle strains. Yet the
activity also accounts for two-thirds of catastrophic
female athlete injuries in high school and college
which result in death or disability. Competitive
cheerleading is leading to an increase in difficulty of
cheerleading routines, and not all cheerleading
coaches are adequately trained.
Source: Amy Miller Boh, M.D., as reported in Bottom
Line (December 1, 2009)