This article assumes that changes in the way the brain handles verbal responses are due to an inevitable “physical maturation.” I wonder to what extent these brain changes (and many others) are a side effect of literacy and what exactly are the trade-offs for learning how to read and write. This study could be made literacy-neutral by the words being spoken rather than presented on screen to both literate and illiterate people. Then we could see if any of the “physical maturation” is really a developmental tangent.
Tom Paskal Montreal, Quebec
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.