Babies learn when adults talk their talk

Babies really do like baby talk.

Not only do infants like the exaggerated intonation, the higher pitch and the short, simple sentences typical of baby talk, but they actually learn to speak sooner if adults speak to them this way, according to a study published this month in the journal Infancy.

In a series of experiments with 8-month-old infants, Erik Thiessen, director of the Infant Language and Learning Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, found that they learned words more quickly when the words were expressed in baby talk than they did if they heard the same words spoken in the same monotone that adults use to address each other.

Thiessen said the findings may also suggest why it is that adults so often struggle to learn a second language.

Science Fair coming soon

Nearly 700 young scientists will display their research this weekend at the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Heinz Field.

The middle and high school students will be competing for more than $300,000 in cash and scholarships. Students in the senior division will be eligible to win a trip to Phoenix, Ariz., to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May.

The exhibits will be open for free public viewing from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday and 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Army honors CMU psychologist

A U.S. Army post in Missouri, Fort Leonard Wood, has given its Commander's Award for Public Service to a cognitive psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University for his work to improve training for land mine detection.

The training system developed by CMU's James Staszewski has boosted land mine detection rates with handheld metal detectors, which once hovered around 15 percent, to 87 percent to 100 percent. Since the training system was coupled with a more sophisticated metal detector, detection rates have hovered around 98 percent.