Karni , A.
Department of Human Biology & the Edmund J Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning & Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa
The language superiority of children has been ascribed to a childhood advantage in the acquisition of skills (procedural memory) specifically in language domains. It is commonly assumed that while declarative ("what", explicit) memory undergoes maturation, procedural ("how-to", implicit) memory, is well established at an early age and is superior to that of adults. This has been tied to a widely accepted notion of "critical periods" as restricted periods of brain malleability (plasticity) during childhood. Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence showing that adults are highly effective in acquiring and consolidating perceptual and motor skills, and in some controlled conditions are better learners than children. A recent study (Ferman & Karni, PLoSone, 2010) suggests a clear advantage for adults in a laboratory language task, both in learning implicit task aspects and in the long-term retention of the skill; findings that support the notion of age-dependent maturation in the establishment of both declarative and procedural memory. In line with recent studies of motor skill learning, it is conjectured that the adult brain may become more selective in the making of long-term skill memory, rather than lose its potential to undergo experience-driven plasticity. CNS maturation may affect the time constants of memory consolidation processes, which in turn change the conditions and constraints under which procedural memory is consolidated before and after puberty. The potential for, and effectiveness of, skill acquisition per-se may remain unchanged or even increase. Under some learning conditions adults can effectively express their language skill acquisition potential.