Science Current Event 1

http://sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/49195/title/Newborn_babies_may_cry_in_their_mother_tongues

This article (above) is about how new born babies begin to develop language. Scientist have discovered that around 2-5 days after a baby is born, they begin to cry in a rhythm similar to their parents native tounge/language. This imitation becomes baby blabber as the child begins to grow, and after three months, infants can start to make vowel sounds spoken by adults. Kathleen Wermke, an anthropologist, and her team decided to prove this theory by studying 60 new born babies, one half French and the other German. The scientist recorded over 2,500 voice recordings as the babies went through their daily routines. The results of this experiment shows that German new born's started out making high pitch sound which then lowered to low pitch sounds. The French new born's started out low pitched and then rose to a higher pitch. These patterns are similar to those used by German and French adults. This experiment also proves that babies try to imitate their mothers behaviors as much as possible. However, other scientists, such as Dr. Kimbrough Oller, are debating that the mothers could have reacted differently to crying situations which could lead to different baby cries. Dr. Oller also believes that the recordings could have been from different times, such as changing time or feeding time, which could also affect the babies cries. As scientist continue to debate the face that a parents language determines the way a baby cries, the truth is still not certain.

In my opinion, I agree with Dr. Wermke. Although Dr. Oller makes a point about different situations could affect the cries, the cries still will sound like the language spoken by the mother since babies try to imitate their mother to attract attention. Both doctors make a point, but Wermek's theory makes more sense. No matter what situation the recordings where taken from, the rhythm of the cries still will sound like the language the mother speaks since the baby hears it all the time when their parents are talking or the mother is on the phone, for example. In conclusion, I believe that a baby cries in a rhythm similar to the language that is spoke by their mother.