Jacques Mehler

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/jacques-mehler

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Jacques Mehler born?1936
2. When did Jacques Mehler die?2020
3. What is Jacques Mehler known for?Advocated for significant innate cognitive and linguistic predispositions in human infants
4. What is the academic affiliations?Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Collège de France
5. What did Jacques Mehler study about babies?He studied how babies learn and think, showing they have smart minds from birth, not just learning from outside sounds.
6. How did babies show they can hear different languages?He did experiments that let babies, even just a few days old, hear two languages and react differently, proving they can tell languages apart.

Infant Cognition: The scientific study of the mental processes of infants, including perception, memory, and problem-solving.
Psycholinguistics: The study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, and comprehend language.
Innate Predisposition: A biological tendency or inclination that is present from birth, influencing behavior or cognitive abilities.
Language Acquisition Device (LAD): A hypothetical mental faculty proposed by Chomsky, believed to be innate and responsible for language learning.