@CreationEdge I think she largely meant it tongue-in-cheek. Based on her other Q&A history, she seems attentive and involved.
user132126
1:02 AM
I agree. But it's a legitimate question that's unfortunately not tongue-in-cheek for some people. That frustrates me. And not finding the sources I want also frustrates me!
I just don't think the information I want is out there! There's a lot of stuff about the Critical Period Hypothesis, but primarily as it relates to second language acquisition. What I want to see is information on outcomes of large vocabulary size.
user132126
My intuition says that if you're waiting to teach vocabulary (for 4 years!), then you're be playing catch up for a long time. You can only realistically learn so many new words per day.
user132126
But I can't even find sources on improving adult's vocabulary of their primary language.
Given a continuous function r(t) representing learned words per day, where t is in days, it makes sense for w(t), known words at time t days, to be approximately equal to the integral from 0 to t of r(x) with respect to x. If r(t) is lowered on an interval [a,b], it follows that w(t) will be lower for t > b unless r(t) is raised for some interval starting after b. The issue then is that r(t) is naturally bounded and is "difficult" to raise.
it is too late in the day for me to follow that many variables :)
something like "DAYS MORE, WORDS MORE" perhaps
user132126
2:25 AM
I wonder though if there is a big enough decrease in difficulty acquiring new words per day as they get older, such as issues presented by Moore's law. (If a problem takes X years to solve, then wait until processor speed doubles)
user132126
Or, if not expanding vocab heavily at an early age diminishes ability to increase vocab later.
@CreationEdge - Immunity question: Impressive answer! Wish I could upvote more than once. :)
user132126
7:19 AM
@anongoodnurse Thanks! Glad to hear that coming from a medical professional. Once I got started (I didn't log in to write anything) I got really interested and kept adding sources.
user132126
What I couldn't find is any information about whether or not current illnesses make you more susceptible to further infection. I'm sure I'm not using the right search terms on Google Scholar for that, if any studies exist.
user132126
For instance, does having a cold, strep throat, ear infection, etc. increase your risk of catching additional unrelated illnesses or increasing their severity? Does having a cold make you more likely to catch the flu (or if the infection rates are the same, are your symptoms worse)?
user132126
I bet that's another question for the biology beta.
@CreationEdge I'm hunting for a study I'm sure I've seen showing a general correlation between expanding vocab earlier and continuous increase in vocab later up to a larger total vocab...seem to remember it was not a strict correlation though
9 hours later…
user132126
7:21 PM
I'll never understand why people accept the answers that they do.
