• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Twin Language

Twin Language

June 19, 2007
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/070619_sciup_twin.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):
Do twins create private languages? I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Twins often share a strong bond, but listener Tony Skura of Nome, Alaska, emailed us to ask if they ever share a secret language. Professor Michael Rutter of the Institute of Psychiatry in London has looked into this phenomenon, which has been widely reported. He found that on close inspection, only 6 percent of the twins he studied used a separate language that they alone could understand.

MICHAEL RUTTER (Institute of Psychiatry, London):
Most of the apparent secret language is probably just a normal developmental phenomenon. That’s to say when children are just learning to speak, it’s common for the brothers and sisters to understand better than the parents do.

HIRSHON:
And this may be especially pronounced in families with twins, since twins are the same age and develop language in parallel. If you’ve got a science question, call us at 1-800-WHYISIT. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Children & Families, Terrorism & War
Previous Post:Carbon Emissions
Next Post:Sound Morphing

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos