Re: THEORY: Storage Vs. Computation

On Mon, 14 Jun 1999, Ed Heil wrote:

> No, I'd say that children learning language is an optimal
> circumstance, since their brains are primed for it and they can do it
> pretty much constantly (infants not having a whole lot else in the way
> of responsibilities in most societies).
No responsibilities, but they do have activities; a child who never
has the opportunity to do anything except learn language (for
instance a severely physically handicapped child with a normal
intelligence) will learn more slowly than a child who can apply the
language it learns immediately to what it's doing.

Not as slowly, perhaps, as a child who is pushed into adult work at
three or so; they tend to develop specialized vocabulary and not
branch out into vocabulary about anything and everything they're
interested in (this while my almost four-year-old twin daughters are
cooking block-and-bead soup, and talking about it, behind my back).

    Irina


            Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastinay.
                     irina@rempt.xs4all.nl (myself)
       http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/index.html (English)
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