Technology Assisted Reading:
Acquiring Literacy Naturally
Dom Massaro
University of California, Santa Cruz
Psyentific Mind Inc
Road Map
• Nature of Language
– Innate or Learned
• Research on Speech Perception
– Technology Required
– Theory Driven
• Applications of Research and Theory
– Language Tutoring
– Universal Literacy
Language is Special
independent language organ
independent course of
development
not traditional perception and
learning theory
Noam Chomsky
Univ. of Maryland, Jan. 26, 2012
Value of the Face
iBaldi
in App Store
See What I’m Saying
Multi-Sensory Pattern Recognition
Bayes
FLMP
BA
BA
2
V 3
4
DA
none
2
A
3
4
DA none
Language
Tutoring with a
Virtual Teacher
Direct Vocabulary Instruction
Baldi Guides
Vocabulary
Learning
Change of Heart
• Overcome Confirmation Bias
• Behavioral Science
• Technology Development
• Behavioral science and technology
could empower preschool children to
learn to read naturally without
instruction
Current Dogma
• Speech is Natural
– Is Acquired Unintentionally
• Reading is Artificial
– Must be Taught
“Unlike its component parts such as vision
and speech, which are genetically organized,
reading has no direct genetic program
passing it on to future generations.”
Maryanne Wolf (2007). Proust and the squid: The story and
science of the reading brain. New York: HarperCollins.
What’s Needed for Universal Speech?
•
•
•
•
Signal analysis
Category Learning
Syllabification
Recombining Syllables
What’s Not Needed?
Theory of Mind
Explosive Brain Development
Critical Period of Development
• Auditory System
• Visual System
• Language System(s)
– Speech
– Sign
– Reading (Hypothesized)
What’s Needed for Literacy?
Written Language!
•
•
•
•
•
See Things
Signal analysis
Learn Categories
Learn Letters and
Constraints
Infant Vision Perception
Saccadic EyeMovements--3:20 in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCFzqcje838
Babies can see more than you might think!
1 month 20/120
4 months 20/60
8 months 20/30
http://www.ski.org/Vision/babyvision.html
One-Month Old Infants Can See
Two-Month Old Infants Can See
Babies
• Association Engines
• Learn Statistical Constraints
– Speech
– Music
– Objects
Babies (7 months)
• Association Engines
• Learn Statistical Constraints
– Speech
– Music
– Objects
Babies
• Association Engines
• Learn Statistical Constraints
– Speech
– Music
– Objects
– Letters?
Topographical Properties
(From Changizi, 2005, 2009)
Picture Books
•
•
•
•
•
First Literature
Integrate Children With A Culture
Pictures Compete With Words
Words Hard To Read
Don’t Help Reading
Read With Me!
• Library of Books
• Automated Speech Recognition
– Smaller Machines
– Faster
– More Accurate
• Text on Portable Screen
– Easily Read
Optimizing Displays
Kwon, M-Y., Legge, G.E. & Dubbels, B. (2007). Developmental
changes in the visual span for reading. Vision Research, 47,
2889-2900.
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACQUISITION OF LITERACY
Proposal
Augmented Reality on Contact Lens
Goal of Universal Literacy
• Within Reach
– Start Early
– Exploit Technology
Benefits of Early Reading
• Eliminate illiteracy
• Reduce Cost of Reading Instruction
• Advantages of Written Language
– Richer Language
– Richer Content
Success of Proposal
•
•
•
•
Allocating Resources
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Time Spent Reading
Rethinking Schooling
Public Spending vs Brain Growth
Rates of Return: Heckman and Masterov, The Productivity
Argument for Investing in Young Children, October 2004.
The Deaf Child
• High School Graduates
– Read at 4th Grade Level
• 95% of Parents Talk
• Bootstrap with Written Language
Rethinking Schooling
APNewsBreak:
Rice, Klein panel
warns of national
security risks if
schools don’t
improve
March 20, 2012
Envisioning Schooling
Post Universal Literacy
John Dewey
Communities,
Not Schools
MLDs
Conclusion and Advice
• Science and Technology Impact Life
• Be Open To Disruptive Ideas
www.psyentificmind.com
Email: massaro@ucsc.edu
twitter: @psyentificmind