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June 13, 2016

Babies are language sponges--even with sign language


It's widely believed that the younger you are, the easier it will be for you to learn a new language, and new research is finding that holds true for sign language as well. University of California, San Diego (UCSD), psychologist Rain Bosworth says that by five months old, babies are universal language "sponges," attracted to language in their environment, and this includes sign language. With support from NSF, Bosworth and her colleagues at the Infant Vision Lab (IVL) have been putting that theory to the test, investigating how deafness affects perception and cognition in babies, and the impact of early exposure to sign language.

Credit: National Science Foundation


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