http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/story/2012-04-12/baboons-reading/54213126/1
Peyton Elder
11.26.12
I
read the article, Baboons can recognize word shapes, it is about a new study out saying that baboons are
able to recognize a word like a human and tell whether it’s a word or not. They
set up several trials with about 10 different baboons, they had this machine
the baboons would climb up to. On the screen a word would pop up, if it was a
word the baboon would hit the circle if it was not a word that baboon would hit
the plus sign. This was very interesting to me, and showed an advancement in
technology. The article also said the baboons were able to recognize around 4
words at a time which is very impressive.
This
article is significant to our world now because it has given us new knowledge
on dyslexia, researchers said that a point to a visual-attention shortfall as a
explanation for dyslexia. This research has been helpful to people with
dyslexia and also given us more information on monkeys like baboons that have
some human capabilities in learning.
Although
this article was very interesting and impressive to read, it was a little short
and didn’t explain much about the dyslexia research and how they found that
baboons had the capability of doing this. I think there could have been more
information presented but overall it was a fascinating article.
My classmate Peyton Elder wrote a very interesting review on the article “Baboons can recognize shapes.” Peyton did a great job on her article and I found it enjoyable and resourceful. Peyton did a great job summarizing the article, and condensed the information in a way that it all made sense. I also like how Peyton gave the review her own voice, and even critiqued the actual article. The last thing I really enjoyed about Peyton’s review was how she connected to the real world. There were a couple of things that I thought could have made the review a little bit better. First off I thought Peyton could have included a little bit more information from the actual article. I also think Peyton could have used a quote or two from the real article to give the review a little bit more professional feel. I think it is so cool that baboons are able to recognize words and shapes; it is pretty wild to think about. All and all I thought Peyton did a really good job with this review, and I think she choose a highly interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteMy classmate Peyton wrote a review on the article “Baboons can recognize word shapes”. Peyton did a great job on describing the experiment process. She told us that the 10 baboons climbed up to the machine themselves in the experiment. She also showed us how the plus sign and the circle work by watching the additional information in the video, which is not in the original article. Peyton related this new discover to the real world, too. I think if we continue researching about baboons’ abilities of recognizing words, the result will really help with dyslexia in children. The last thing I appreciate of Peyton’s review is the final critical statement of the actual article. I feel the same after a read the article.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I think Peyton might improve are adding more information to the previous discover of the experiment. Such as how scientists found out baboons can recognize shapes, and how they trained the baboons on recognizing new words. She could also add more numerical results of the experiment, like 308 words and 75% accuracy. It will make the review more impressive.
After all I think Peyton did a very good job of reviewing the article. I was very surprised by the fact that reading-like vision processes can occur in a species without language.
Peyton’s review of the article and the accompanying video “Baboons Can Recognize Word Shapes” was well done. Peyton summarized the video very well and the experiment that took place with the Baboons. She also mentioned the tie to dyslexia and how working with the monkeys will help researchers better understand the issue that some people have with reading. When she questions how the research will be used to aid those with dyslexia it showed her desire to learn more about the topic.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Peyton did a great job, more attention to detail was needed. The article states that the Baboons were capable of memorizing dozens of four letter words. The author of the article also gives specifics about how the experiment helped the researchers better understands dyslexia. The article blames “visual-attention shortfalls as an explanation for dyslexia in children…rather than problems with speaking or hearing in the brain.”
I was impressed by how the Baboons were capable of telling the difference between real and fake words.