ABSTRACT
We live in an era of high-tech everyday life. Computer chips can be found in automobiles, toys, washing machines and toasters. The study of language use and acquisition is no exception. Among the techniques currently in fashion are computerized analysis of language samples (MacWhinney, 2000), split video monitors with a soundtrack that matches one image for the study of language comprehension (Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff, 1996), evoked-potential recording to trace the division of labor between the two hemispheres in language processing (Mills, Coffey-Corina & Neville, 1997), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify the brain locus of specific aspects of language processing (Raichle, 1994), and molecular genetic techniques to identify and characterize the influence of specific genes on language (Plomin & Dale, 2000; Meaburn, Dale, Craig & Plomin, 2002).
