Why Do We Talk? The Science of Speech
(eVideo)

English

Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on Mar. 02, 2010.

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The average person will speak approximately 370 million words in his or her lifetime-a simple fact. And yet the underlying structures-sociological, anatomical, developmental, intellectual-have proved to be some of science's most impenetrable mysteries. This program spotlights researchers who are unlocking the deepest secrets of speech: Deb Roy and the Human Speechome Project; Tecumseh Fitch and his study of vocal tract positioning in animals; Cathy Price, who is piecing together a speech-related map of the brain; William Fifer and his study of the roots of language reception in babies; Ofer Tchernichovski, who is conducting The Forbidden Experiment with zebra finches; Faraneh Vargha-Khadem and the isolation of speech gene FOXP2; and Simon Kirby, whose Alien Language Experiment illustrates the evolution of language from random to structured. Special guest: Noam Chomsky.

9 & up.

Mode of access: Internet.

System requirements: Access Video On Demand playback platform.

Closed-captioned.