French medias

This article explores the notion of consciousness in infants and young children, emphasising that the term ‘consciousness’ has several meanings. It distinguishes between two aspects of consciousness: an individual's self-awareness and being aware of something (an emotion, a concept, a memory...).  Research shows that infants have a rudimentary form of consciousness, but may be slower than adults in becoming aware of external world, due to the immaturity of their nervous system. This suggests that consciousness involves a global distribution of information in the brain, requiring long-distance connections between brain regions. In short, consciousness in infants is more complex than initially thought, although different from that in adults.

  - Vol 27 - N°10 - 2022 - p.32 à 37.

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This article explores the bouba-kiki effect, a universal tendency for people to intuitively associate the sound of words with the physical properties of objects. For example, soft sounds such as ‘bouba’ are often associated with round objects, while higher-pitched sounds such as ‘kiki’ are associated with pointed objects. This association reveals that our language is influenced by our perception of the physical environment, calling into question the idea of an autonomous language. Furthermore, research indicates that this association develops as a function of children's interactions with their environment, rather than being innate. These findings have important implications, showing that language is closely linked to the perception of the physical properties of objects from the earliest years of a child's life.

  - 2023

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