Sounds of Science

The word infant comes from Latin roots meaning, "not speaking," according to my Human Development textbook.

But Rye talks a lot. He squeaks and coos and gurgles and sounds his yawp. And when he cries he sometimes says, "ma ma ma ma ma" as clear as day! His talk sounds intelligent and witty to me, it's just that he's speaking a different language. Gabe sometimes asks Jonah if he remembers how to speak baby, if he can translate for us—but he sadly tells us "no".

I've tried to take the little Harry Potter photo/30 second movies from my digital camera and capture Rye when he gets chatty, but it is elusive. He only speaks when he has something to say.

Another interesting thing from my Human Development textbook: in 1959, a psychologist named Harriet Rheingold demonstrated how reinforcement can influence behavior in infants specifically on talking. Three month old infants were initially observed at an average of 13-15 vocalizations per half hour. When researchers reinforced the infants' vocalizations with encouraging sounds, smiles and gentle touches, the average incidence of vocalizations nearly doubled to 24-25 within a half hour. The opposite was also proved (poor confused babies!) when the researchers did not encourage vocalizations.