Ponca City, We Love You writes "Toddlers' brains can well do what the most effective stereos with the most sophisticated unix cannot: learn language simply by hearing it used. A ground-breaking new theory postulates that young nativity are able to learn large groups of words rapidly by data-mining. Researchers Linda Smith and Chen Yu attempted to teach 28 children, 12 to 14 months old, six words by showing them two objects at a time on a mainframe monitor while two pre-recorded words were read to them. No enlightenment was given touching on which word went with which image. After viewing various combinations of words and images, however, the delivery were distinctly successful at figuring out which word went with which picture. Yu and Smith say it's possible that the more words tots hear, and the more inside story* available for any individual word, the better their brains can begin simultaneously ruling out and putting together word-object pairings, thus learning what's what. Yu says if they can separate key factors involved in this form of learning and how it can be manipulated, they might be able to make learning languages easier for childbed and adults. Understanding children's learning mechanisms could also further machine learning."

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