Ajusting the parameters of a model

Learning is also adusting the parameters of an existing model. Here are some examples:


In front of your eyes hold a prism which shifts your vision by a few degress to the left. Now try grabbing an obect in front of you. You will miss. After some number of tries, you will adjust your hand-eye coordination to the new reality and you will be able to grab the object (visual-motor plasticity).

Distrotion goggles

A baby is born in Kyoto. Over the next few years, the innate model of language has to adjust to the characteristics of the Japanese language: sound patterns, vocabulary, grammar, semantics, etc. Let us consider the acquisition of grammar rules.
In Japanese, "Jane + a pear + ate" is expressed as "Jane wa nashi wo tabemashita" and is perfectly grammatical.

Now consider a baby born in Kingston, Onatrio. Over the next few years, the same innate model of language has to adjust to the characteristics of the English language: "Jane ate a pear".


Silly questions:

  • What would happen if a baby born in Kingston, Ontario was raised in Kyoto, Japan?
  • How does the innate model adjust in bilingual households?