Re: Using classical conditioning on babies

VoiceOfReason wrote:
> Nancy Norton wrote:
>
>>Cyde Weys wrote:
>>
>>>Would it be unethical to train your own baby? Not that I have one on
>>>the way (that I know of), but it seems like an interesting concept.
>>>You can train animals to do all sorts of tricks just by giving them
>>>food that they like. I'm sure babies would respond to a certain treat
>>>too. Maybe you could get them to speak faster than normal babies by
>>>offering milk rewards for verbalizations over a period of months?
>>
>>Probably not, from what I've heard. I think a big part of being able to
>>talk has to do with physical maturation that simply can't be hurried. I
>>have heard that babies can be taught sign language (simplified, maybe?)
>>at a younger age than they can talk and this can enable them to
>>communicate well before they can actually talk. If I'd known about this
>>when my son was a baby, I would have tried it. Not only is it
>>fascinating, but it might truly have saved a lot of frustration. He was
>>extremely slow to talk (he didn't say his first noun until about 25
>>months, although he used a number of action words and phrases - "up",
>>"down", "all gone", "NO!" - before that). I spent a lot of time saying
>>"Show me" when he wanted something. His receptive language was fine
>>(probably somewhat advanced - he's extremely bright) so he understood
>>everything but couldn't express himself at all.
>
>
> Just curious here. Both my daughter and my brother's son were late to
> talk, although they obviously understood language long before they
> spoke it. BUT, when they finally did start talking, they did it
> nonstop! (Both are very good students too.)
>
> <...>
>

Your daughter and nephew might be more like me. Do they have older
siblings that are close in age? I have a sister who is 15 months older
than me and, as I understand sometimes happens, I apparently found it
unnecessary to talk until very late because my sister "interpreted" for
me. (I was 3, according to my mom, but I can't quite believe I didn't
say a word until then.) However, when I did start talking, it was in
full sentences and I'm told I talked non-stop, too. (I was also a very
good student.)

My son, on the other hand, continued to have "subtle" language
abnormalities, even after he started talking. Never enough to really
raise a red flag, but... weird things. Like I mentioned, he didn't start
with nouns like most children, he started with verbs. I think he was
almost 4 before he could tell someone his name. He knew his name and
could say it if you told him "Say Alex" (well, it came out "Awex",
but...), but if you asked him "What is your name?" he would tap his
chest, smile broadly and say "ME!" He never used his name in the place
of "I" or "me" as other children do.

He took forever to learn the concept of adjectives. He couldn't really
do MadLibs at the age when most kids find them hilarious because he
couldn't supply adjectives. He knew what nouns and verbs were but when
asked for an adjective he'd need help. I'd say, "It's a word that
describes a noun, like 'brown' or 'large' or 'happy'." and he would
choose one of the ones I'd supplied. If you picked up a small, red,
plastic cup and asked him to describe it he'd say "It's a cup." If you
pressed him for details, he didn't seem to understand what you wanted.
This was an extremely bright kid of elementary school age, mind you, and
he couldn't grasp the concept of an adjective. He also never named
anything. His stuffed animals were Koala, Eagle, Bear, etc.

When it came to learning to read, I said for years that there was
something wrong but since he was so good at using his intelligence to
cover it up nobody listened to me. It finally became enough of a problem
that his teachers noticed it late in 4th grade (although he still tested
at grade level). We finally found someone who could diagnose him (after
a couple of misdiagnoses) and give him therapy when he was in 5th grade.
Now, in 11th grade, he reads just fine and his writing is finally
becoming halfway decent. He's really struggling with the requirement to
take 3 years of a foreign language for college admittance, though. I
think he'll get through German 3, but it'll be a relief to have it over
with.

He's a whiz at math and science - a born engineer. He could add in his
head before he turned 4. Only small numbers, and he couldn't do it on
command, but he'd spontaneously do it and amaze people (including me the
first time he did it in front of me). I also noticed a difference
between him and his slightly older cousin, when it came to numbers. His
cousin was at an age where could point to objects and count them (about
3?) but when he got done counting them he couldn't tell you how many
there were - he knew to point and say the words but didn't really know
what he was doing, I guess. My son never went through that stage. He
went directly to grasping the concept that the last number you said was
the number of objects.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Using classical conditioning on babies
    ... >>>at a younger age than they can talk and this can enable them to ... > He took forever to learn the concept of adjectives. ... She has an invisible twin sister ... > at grade level). ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: The Best of RADP?
    ... <I keep asking myself how I got to be mom to a 24 year old son!> ... Well, in my case, I got married in 2nd grade. ... My grandmother was one of those who chronically adjusted her age. ... when my mother was in attendance my GM told her doctor her age. ...
    (rec.arts.disney.parks)
  • Re: writing
    ... administration of a bloated system easier. ... that got in the way of his writing, ... school expectations or his age or anything like that. ... That may not be the case for your son. ...
    (misc.kids)
  • Re: Gospatric Fitz Orms mother, Gravelda of Dunbar
    ... Unfortunately in this reconstruction Douglas has done this more than once in ... > Elsewhere, I've determined that Thomas, son of Gospatrick Fitz Orm, had ... he was of age before 1164. ...
    (soc.genealogy.medieval)
  • Re: writing
    ... something that they are not ready to learn in order to make the administration of a bloated system easier. ... that got in the way of his writing, ... school expectations or his age or anything like that. ... That may not be the case for your son. ...
    (misc.kids)