Perceptual Vigilance

            This article related the perceptual vigilance that infants can acquire at just six months of age. Babies that grew up in a household that spoke Spanish and Catalan had the advantage of telling the difference between English and French on the basis of facial cues. The children had never been introduced to these languages before, but still could differentiate them. I am astounded at this capability. I know they say that children have an easier time learning a language the younger they are. I did not know this would go back to a baby. I wonder how they could tell that the child could see a difference in the language. It’s not like the baby could tell them they see a difference. My guess would be that they watched the brain activity of the babies. If a baby is around two languages, they are going to have to distinguish between those two, which might ultimately allow them to tell a difference between others. I am sure that the babies compare all of the other languages that they are around to their own. It seems that it might be a category thing where all languages unknown to the babies get placed in their own category in their mind. After so many repetitive hearings or showings of something I assume that the babies can see the similarities and differences, thus picking up on the languages. The babies are now able to grow up and distinguish multiple languages and do not have to grow up with just a single language.
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