Professor William Fifer works with new born babies
为了了解新生儿何时开始
to investigateat at what point they start to
对自己周遭的声音作出反应
respond to the speech they hear around them.
威廉·菲弗教授开始研究他们
Early experiments used an adapted pacifier
早期实验使用改良的奶嘴
to measure how the baby's sucking responses changed
来检测播放不同的声音时
when it was played different voices,
婴儿吸吮反应的改变
But this technique relied on the baby being awake.
但这种技术需要婴儿一直醒着
He now measures new born brain activity using an array of electrodes
他现在用电极针来监测新生大脑的活动
and he can do that even when they're sleeping.
这种方法在婴儿熟睡时也可使用
So does this cute little baby have a name yet?
这可爱小宝贝有名字了吗
Liliana. Liliana. All right.
莉莉亚娜 莉莉亚娜 好的
And what we're talking about today
我们今天探讨的
is how quickly she's picking up information about language already.
是她从语言中获取信息的速度有多快
So, as you know, she's been listening in the womb
如你们所知 她子宫中就一直在听了
and we think that she's particularly prepared
我们觉得她已经完全准备好
to want to listen to certain things, especially mom's voice.
听些特别的东西了 特别是妈妈的声音
Sorry, dad, but you'll come soon.
对不起 爸爸要等一下
That's ok, don't worry.
没事的 别担心
She'll stop listening to both of us soon enough, we know.
她很快就会不再听我们俩的话了