cover 2006

Dr. Andrea Berger
An Early Start
22 BGU NOW
T
he human brain is a wondrous
creation. According to studies
carried out at BGU, it emerges that
infants are able to process basic
mathematical calculations and even
detect errors.
The influential 20th century
developmental psychologist Jean
Piaget theorized that in its earliest
developmental stages, a baby is
aware of sensations, but doesn’t
recognize them as coming from
external sources. Dr. Andrea Berger
has been conducting research that
challenges this view. “Today, we
know that babies not only are aware
that objects exist outside of
themselves and have a real physical
presence, but they also follow how
many objects there are,” explains
Berger. She and her colleagues in the
Department of Behavioral Sciences
and the Zlotowski Center for
Neuroscience have demonstrated
that not only are very young infants
aware of external objects, they can
actually count them.
Berger is trying to find out what
is going on inside the minds of
young babies, particularly regarding
their mathematical abilities. “There
is some evidence that babies at a
very young age have some
understanding of quantities, even
addition and subtraction.”
The research involves the use of
a device which measures the
electrical activity produced by the
brain in response to a certain
stimulus. In this case, the stimulus
is a cartoon showing puppets.
The babies being tested wear a
head-covering resembling a shower
cap consisting of 128 electrodes
woven together. The electrodes
transmit electrical impulses to a
computer, which records the brain
activity. This electrical scan method,
known as “event-related potential”
or ERP, analyzes electrophysiological
responses. Berger says
that the aim of her project is to
provide data to back up the theory
that “babies can process quantity
data very, very early in life and can
even perform very basic
mathematical operations like
addition and subtraction.” The
infants in the study were from ages
six to nine months. ”In order to
convince a mother to bring her
healthy baby to a lab for research, I
have to make it very easy,” explains
Berger. “So the whole procedure has
to be simple and fun.” Once the
designated baby is hooked up and
comfortably sitting on its mother’s
lap, the experiment begins as the
baby is shown a cartoon with a tiger
puppet. There is musical
accompaniment specially composed
for this research to ensure the baby’s
attention. A screen comes up to hide