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Read articles, including Science News stories written for ages 9-14, on the SNK website.
Subtle changes

Signing “The prison warden says all juveniles will be excused tomorrow” two ways activates different parts of the brain in the receiver. At top, the phrase “will be excused” is expressed using only word order. This sentence uses mostly short-term memory. At bottom, the signs themselves are altered with an exaggerated hand sweep to indicate that lots of people will be excused. This kind of sentence uses mostly procedural memory.


Credit: Aaron J. Newman, Ted Supalla and Elissa L. Newport

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