Iris Berent

**Iris Berent** masanin ilimin halayyar dan adam ce ta Isra'ila-Amurka. Ita Farfesa ce a fannin ilimin halayyar ɗan adam a Jami'ar Arewa maso Gabas kuma darakta ce ta Language and Mind Lab . Tana daga cikin wadanda suka kafa ilimin gwaji - filin da ke amfani da hanyoyin ilimin halayyar gwaji da kimiyyar kwakwalwa don nazarin ƙwarewar sauti. Ta kuma bincika rawar da ƙwarewar phonological ke takawa a cikin ikon karatu   da dyslexia.   Ayyukanta na baya-bayan nan sun bincika yadda masu zaman kansu ke tunani game da ilimin halitta,   irin su harshe na duniya.

## Rayuwa ta farko da ilimi
Horar da karatun digiri na Berent ta kasance a cikin wasan kwaikwayo na kiɗa da ilimin kiɗa. Daga baya ta bi bincike a cikin ilimin kiɗa, gami da aikin gona a cikin ethnomusicology (a Mexico). Binciken da ta yi na farko ta nemi bincika yadda masu sauraro ke nazarin tsarin kiɗa yayin da suke sauraron kiɗa a kan layi,  da kuma yadda wannan tsari ke tsarawa ta hanyar ka'idojin halitta a matsayin gogewa tare da maganganun kiɗa daban-daban. Ta sami digiri na MA a fannin Musicology da digiri na MS a fannin Psychology a Jami'ar Pittsburgh . Ta kasance mai karɓar Predoctoral Mellon Fellowship . Binciken rubuce-rubucen ta (wanda Mellon Fellowship na biyu ta goyi bayan) ta bincika ƙuntatawa na duniya akan tsarin sauti na harshe yana tsara wakilcin kan layi na kalmomin da aka buga (a ƙarƙashin Charles Perfetti).  Ta sami digirinta na PhD a fannin ilimin halayyar mutum, kuma daga Jami'ar Pittsburgh. Ta bi bincike na Post-Doctoral tare da Guy Van Orden a Jami'ar Jihar Arizona (wanda NIH NRSA ta goyi bayan).

## Bincike da aiki
Berent ta binciki ilimin sauti a matsayin taga a cikin tushen ikon ɗan adam don harshe, kuma, gabaɗaya, cikin yanayin ɗan adam.

Kowane harshe na halitta - magana ko sanya hannu - ya ƙunshi alamu marasa ma'ana na abubuwa marasa ma'anar (phonology).  Turanci, alal misali, tana ba da izinin sassan kamar *blog*, amma ya hana alamu kamar *lbog*. Bugu da ƙari, sassan kamar *blog* sun fi yawa a cikin harsuna. Binciken Berent ya bincika ko alamu na phonological suna sarrafawa ta hanyar ka'idojin harshe da aka haifa a cikin mutane (harshe na duniya).      

Yawancin harsuna, duk da haka, suna fahimtar alamu na sauti yayin da magana ke aiki, don haka yana yiwuwa cewa ƙuntatawa a kan alamu na phonological ba daga ka'idojin harshe ba amma daga ƙuntatawa na motsi da na ji akan samarwa da fahimtar sautunan magana. Misali, ana iya fi son shafin yanar gizo ne kawai saboda tana da sauƙin tsarin motsi na magana don fahimta da samarwa. Bugu da ƙari, masu magana da Ingilishi na iya fi son alamu kamar *blog* saboda waɗannan alamu sun fi dacewa, ba saboda mutane sun dogara da ka'idoji ba. Don haka, ilimin harshe na iya zama saboda abubuwan da ba takamaiman harshe ba ne, wato, ƙuntatawa da ƙwarewa.

Binciken Berent ya bincika yiwuwar biyu.Ɗaya daga cikin layin bincike ya nuna cewa ilimin harshe yana ƙarƙashin ƙa'idodin algebraic, waɗanda ke bayyane a cikin manya (duka masu magana da masu sa hannu. ) da jarirai da aka haifa. Wani aiki mai mahimmanci ya nuna cewa masu magana - manya da jarirai - sun haɗu a kan ka'idojin sauti iri ɗaya ko da lokacin da waɗannan ka'idodin ba su da tabbaci a cikin kwarewar harshe. Da yiwuwar cewa waɗannan ƙuntatawa na phonological suna sarrafawa ta hanyar ka'idoji masu mahimmanci an kara tallafawa ta hanyar binciken cewa waɗannan ka'idojin an kare su a cikin mutane da ke fama da dyslexia   - rikicewar karatu da aka sani don daidaita ƙananan matakan sarrafa magana (phonetics). Wadannan sakamakon sun nuna cewa ilimin sauti ba kawai saboda gogewa ba ne tare da wasu alamu na sauti.

Layin bincike na biyu ta bincika ko ƙuntatawa na sauti yana nuna ka'idodin harshe ko ƙuntataccen motsi akan sarrafa magana, a takaice. Don wannan dalili, Berent ya kwatanta ƙuntatawa na sauti a cikin nau'o'i biyu na harshe - magana da alamomi. A cikin wani layin bincike, ta nuna cewa harsunan da ake magana da su da kuma yaren hannu suna da ka'idoji iri ɗaya.  Abin mamaki, masu magana waɗanda ba su da umurni na yaren kurame na iya tsara waɗannan ka'idodin daga yarensu na asali zuwa alamun harshe. Layin aiki na biyu ya nuna cewa mutane suna ci gaba da kasancewa masu hankali ga tsarin sauti koda kuwa tsarin motarsa na kwakwalwarsu ya canza na ɗan lokaci (ta hanyar motsawar inji da kuma motsawar Transcranial Magnetic .  Wadannan sakamakon sun nuna cewa ƙuntatawa akan phonology ba kawai ƙuntatawa ne akan sautunan magana ba.

An ɗauke shi gaba ɗaya, binciken Berent ya dace da ra'ayin cewa harshe yana ƙuntata ta hanyar ka'idoji masu mahimmanci waɗanda aka haifa a cikin mutane (harshe na duniya). Halitta, duk da haka, tambaya ce mai zurfi a falsafar, ilimin halayyar dan adam, da ilimin harshe. Don bincika dalilin da ya sa tattaunawar ilimin halitta ke haifar da irin wannan martani mai karfi, Berent kwanan nan ya fara nazarin yadda masu zaman kansu ke tunani game da yanayin ɗan adam.  Sakamakon ya nuna cewa mutane suna da tsari da kuma zaɓaɓɓen nuna bambanci game da yiwuwar cewa ilimin ya kasance na halitta. Berent ya gano wadannan son zuciya zuwa haɗuwa tsakanin ka'idoji biyu na mahimmancin fahimta - Dualism da essentialism.

Ayyukanta sun sami tallafi daga Cibiyoyin Lafiya na Kasa da Gidauniyar Kimiyya ta Kasa. Ita ce mai karɓar kyaututtuka da yawa, kuma Fellow na Ƙungiyar Kimiyya ta Halitta .

## Littattafai
Littafinta The blind storyteller: How we reason about human nature (Oxford University Press, 2020) ya binciki yadda ainihin fahimta ke tsoma baki cikin fahimtarmu game da batutuwa da yawa, gami da dalilin da ya sa muke hauka game da kwakwalwarmu, me ya sa muke gaskata cewa cututtukan kwakwalwa kamar babban baƙin ciki suna cikin makomarmu (yayin da dyslexia "kawai a cikin zukatanmu"), da abin da muke tunani lokacin da muka mutu.

Berent kuma shine marubucin The Phonological Mind (Cambridge, 2013).  Takardun *Kimiyya* sun bayyana a cikin mujallu irin su Kimiyya,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,     Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,  Psychological Review, [5] Cognition, [5] [6] *Harshe*, [5] Trends in Cognitive Sciences, [5] da Current Directions in Psychological Science.

## Manazarta