Mirror neurons, language, and embodied cognition.

PubMed

Perlovsky, Leonid I; Ilin, Roman

2013-05-01

Basic mechanisms of the mind, cognition, language, its semantic and emotional mechanisms are modeled using dynamic logic (DL). This cognitively and mathematically motivated model leads to a dual-model hypothesis of language and cognition. The paper emphasizes that abstract cognition cannot evolve without language. The developed model is consistent with a joint emergence of language and cognition from a mirror neuron system. The dual language-cognition model leads to the dual mental hierarchy. The nature of cognition embodiment in the hierarchy is analyzed. Future theoretical and experimental research is discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Grounding language in action and perception: From cognitive agents to humanoid robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cangelosi, Angelo

2010-06-01

In this review we concentrate on a grounded approach to the modeling of cognition through the methodologies of cognitive agents and developmental robotics. This work will focus on the modeling of the evolutionary and developmental acquisition of linguistic capabilities based on the principles of symbol grounding. We review cognitive agent and developmental robotics models of the grounding of language to demonstrate their consistency with the empirical and theoretical evidence on language grounding and embodiment, and to reveal the benefits of such an approach in the design of linguistic capabilities in cognitive robotic agents. In particular, three different models will be discussed, where the complexity of the agent's sensorimotor and cognitive system gradually increases: from a multi-agent simulation of language evolution, to a simulated robotic agent model for symbol grounding transfer, to a model of language comprehension in the humanoid robot iCub. The review also discusses the benefits of the use of humanoid robotic platform, and specifically of the open source iCub platform, for the study of embodied cognition.

Grounding language in action and perception: from cognitive agents to humanoid robots.

PubMed

Cangelosi, Angelo

2010-06-01

In this review we concentrate on a grounded approach to the modeling of cognition through the methodologies of cognitive agents and developmental robotics. This work will focus on the modeling of the evolutionary and developmental acquisition of linguistic capabilities based on the principles of symbol grounding. We review cognitive agent and developmental robotics models of the grounding of language to demonstrate their consistency with the empirical and theoretical evidence on language grounding and embodiment, and to reveal the benefits of such an approach in the design of linguistic capabilities in cognitive robotic agents. In particular, three different models will be discussed, where the complexity of the agent's sensorimotor and cognitive system gradually increases: from a multi-agent simulation of language evolution, to a simulated robotic agent model for symbol grounding transfer, to a model of language comprehension in the humanoid robot iCub. The review also discusses the benefits of the use of humanoid robotic platform, and specifically of the open source iCub platform, for the study of embodied cognition. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vocal Development as a Guide to Modeling the Evolution of Language.

PubMed

Oller, D Kimbrough; Griebel, Ulrike; Warlaumont, Anne S

2016-04-01

Modeling of evolution and development of language has principally utilized mature units of spoken language, phonemes and words, as both targets and inputs. This approach cannot address the earliest phases of development because young infants are unable to produce such language features. We argue that units of early vocal development-protophones and their primitive illocutionary/perlocutionary forces-should be targeted in evolutionary modeling because they suggest likely units of hominin vocalization/communication shortly after the split from the chimpanzee/bonobo lineage, and because early development of spontaneous vocal capability is a logically necessary step toward vocal language, a root capability without which other crucial steps toward vocal language capability are impossible. Modeling of language evolution/development must account for dynamic change in early communicative units of form/function across time. We argue for interactive contributions of sender/infants and receiver/caregivers in a feedback loop involving both development and evolution and propose to begin computational modeling at the hominin break from the primate communicative background. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Biological adaptations for functional features of language in the face of cultural evolution.

PubMed

Christiansen, Morten H; Reali, Florencia; Chater, Nick

2011-04-01

Although there may be no true language universals, it is nonetheless possible to discern several family resemblance patterns across the languages of the world. Recent work on the cultural evolution of language indicates the source of these patterns is unlikely to be an innate universal grammar evolved through biological adaptations for arbitrary linguistic features. Instead, it has been suggested that the patterns of resemblance emerge because language has been shaped by the brain, with individual languages representing different but partially overlapping solutions to the same set of nonlinguistic constraints. Here, we use computational simulations to investigate whether biological adaptation for functional features of language, deriving from cognitive and communicative constraints, may nonetheless be possible alongside rapid cultural evolution. Specifically, we focus on the Baldwin effect as an evolutionary mechanism by which previously learned linguistic features might become innate through natural selection across many generations of language users. The results indicate that cultural evolution of language does not necessarily prevent functional features of language from becoming genetically fixed, thus potentially providing a particularly informative source of constraints on cross-linguistic resemblance patterns.

Language as a multimodal phenomenon: implications for language learning, processing and evolution.

PubMed

Vigliocco, Gabriella; Perniss, Pamela; Vinson, David

2014-09-19

Our understanding of the cognitive and neural underpinnings of language has traditionally been firmly based on spoken Indo-European languages and on language studied as speech or text. However, in face-to-face communication, language is multimodal: speech signals are invariably accompanied by visual information on the face and in manual gestures, and sign languages deploy multiple channels (hands, face and body) in utterance construction. Moreover, the narrow focus on spoken Indo-European languages has entrenched the assumption that language is comprised wholly by an arbitrary system of symbols and rules. However, iconicity (i.e. resemblance between aspects of communicative form and meaning) is also present: speakers use iconic gestures when they speak; many non-Indo-European spoken languages exhibit a substantial amount of iconicity in word forms and, finally, iconicity is the norm, rather than the exception in sign languages. This introduction provides the motivation for taking a multimodal approach to the study of language learning, processing and evolution, and discusses the broad implications of shifting our current dominant approaches and assumptions to encompass multimodal expression in both signed and spoken languages. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Language as a multimodal phenomenon: implications for language learning, processing and evolution

PubMed Central

Vigliocco, Gabriella; Perniss, Pamela; Vinson, David

2014-01-01

Our understanding of the cognitive and neural underpinnings of language has traditionally been firmly based on spoken Indo-European languages and on language studied as speech or text. However, in face-to-face communication, language is multimodal: speech signals are invariably accompanied by visual information on the face and in manual gestures, and sign languages deploy multiple channels (hands, face and body) in utterance construction. Moreover, the narrow focus on spoken Indo-European languages has entrenched the assumption that language is comprised wholly by an arbitrary system of symbols and rules. However, iconicity (i.e. resemblance between aspects of communicative form and meaning) is also present: speakers use iconic gestures when they speak; many non-Indo-European spoken languages exhibit a substantial amount of iconicity in word forms and, finally, iconicity is the norm, rather than the exception in sign languages. This introduction provides the motivation for taking a multimodal approach to the study of language learning, processing and evolution, and discusses the broad implications of shifting our current dominant approaches and assumptions to encompass multimodal expression in both signed and spoken languages. PMID:25092660

Evolution of Brain and Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoenemann, P. Thomas

2009-01-01

The evolution of language and the evolution of the brain are tightly interlinked. Language evolution represents a special kind of adaptation, in part because language is a complex behavior (as opposed to a physical feature) but also because changes are adaptive only to the extent that they increase either one's understanding of others, or one's…

Triadic (ecological, neural, cognitive) niche construction: a scenario of human brain evolution extrapolating tool use and language from the control of reaching actions.

PubMed

Iriki, Atsushi; Taoka, Miki

2012-01-12

Hominin evolution has involved a continuous process of addition of new kinds of cognitive capacity, including those relating to manufacture and use of tools and to the establishment of linguistic faculties. The dramatic expansion of the brain that accompanied additions of new functional areas would have supported such continuous evolution. Extended brain functions would have driven rapid and drastic changes in the hominin ecological niche, which in turn demanded further brain resources to adapt to it. In this way, humans have constructed a novel niche in each of the ecological, cognitive and neural domains, whose interactions accelerated their individual evolution through a process of triadic niche construction. Human higher cognitive activity can therefore be viewed holistically as one component in a terrestrial ecosystem. The brain's functional characteristics seem to play a key role in this triadic interaction. We advance a speculative argument about the origins of its neurobiological mechanisms, as an extension (with wider scope) of the evolutionary principles of adaptive function in the animal nervous system. The brain mechanisms that subserve tool use may bridge the gap between gesture and language--the site of such integration seems to be the parietal and extending opercular cortices.

The evolution of language

PubMed Central

Nowak, Martin A.; Krakauer, David C.

1999-01-01

The emergence of language was a defining moment in the evolution of modern humans. It was an innovation that changed radically the character of human society. Here, we provide an approach to language evolution based on evolutionary game theory. We explore the ways in which protolanguages can evolve in a nonlinguistic society and how specific signals can become associated with specific objects. We assume that early in the evolution of language, errors in signaling and perception would be common. We model the probability of misunderstanding a signal and show that this limits the number of objects that can be described by a protolanguage. This “error limit” is not overcome by employing more sounds but by combining a small set of more easily distinguishable sounds into words. The process of “word formation” enables a language to encode an essentially unlimited number of objects. Next, we analyze how words can be combined into sentences and specify the conditions for the evolution of very simple grammatical rules. We argue that grammar originated as a simplified rule system that evolved by natural selection to reduce mistakes in communication. Our theory provides a systematic approach for thinking about the origin and evolution of human language. PMID:10393942

Language Evolution: Why Hockett's Design Features are a Non-Starter.

PubMed

Wacewicz, Sławomir; Żywiczyński, Przemysław

The set of design features developed by Charles Hockett in the 1950s and 1960s remains probably the most influential means of juxtaposing animal communication with human language. However, the general theoretical perspective of Hockett is largely incompatible with that of modern language evolution research. Consequently, we argue that his classificatory system-while useful for some descriptive purposes-is of very limited use as a theoretical framework for evolutionary linguistics. We see this incompatibility as related to the ontology of language, i.e. deriving from Hockett's interest in language as a product rather than a suite of sensorimotor, cognitive and social abilities that enable the use but also acquisition of language by biological creatures (the faculty of language ). After a reconstruction of Hockett's views on design features, we raise two criticisms: focus on the means at the expense of content and focus on the code itself rather than the cognitive abilities of its users . Finally, referring to empirical data, we illustrate some of the problems resulting from Hockett's approach by addressing three specific points-namely arbitrariness and semanticity , cultural transmission , and displacement -and show how the change of perspective allows to overcome those difficulties.

Dual Neural Network Model for the Evolution of Speech and Language.

PubMed

Hage, Steffen R; Nieder, Andreas

2016-12-01

Explaining the evolution of speech and language poses one of the biggest challenges in biology. We propose a dual network model that posits a volitional articulatory motor network (VAMN) originating in the prefrontal cortex (PFC; including Broca's area) that cognitively controls vocal output of a phylogenetically conserved primary vocal motor network (PVMN) situated in subcortical structures. By comparing the connections between these two systems in human and nonhuman primate brains, we identify crucial biological preadaptations in monkeys for the emergence of a language system in humans. This model of language evolution explains the exclusiveness of non-verbal communication sounds (e.g., cries) in infants with an immature PFC, as well as the observed emergence of non-linguistic vocalizations in adults after frontal lobe pathologies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Proposed Neurological Interpretation of Language Evolution.

PubMed

Ardila, Alfredo

2015-01-01

Since the very beginning of the aphasia history it has been well established that there are two major aphasic syndromes (Wernicke's-type and Broca's-type aphasia); each one of them is related to the disturbance at a specific linguistic level (lexical/semantic and grammatical) and associated with a particular brain damage localization (temporal and frontal-subcortical). It is proposed that three stages in language evolution could be distinguished: (a) primitive communication systems similar to those observed in other animals, including nonhuman primates; (b) initial communication systems using sound combinations (lexicon) but without relationships among the elements (grammar); and (c) advanced communication systems including word-combinations (grammar). It is proposed that grammar probably originated from the internal representation of actions, resulting in the creation of verbs; this is an ability that depends on the so-called Broca's area and related brain networks. It is suggested that grammar is the basic ability for the development of so-called metacognitive executive functions. It is concluded that while the lexical/semantic language system (vocabulary) probably appeared during human evolution long before the contemporary man (Homo sapiens sapiens), the grammatical language historically represents a recent acquisition and is correlated with the development of complex cognition (metacognitive executive functions).

A Proposed Neurological Interpretation of Language Evolution

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Since the very beginning of the aphasia history it has been well established that there are two major aphasic syndromes (Wernicke's-type and Broca's-type aphasia); each one of them is related to the disturbance at a specific linguistic level (lexical/semantic and grammatical) and associated with a particular brain damage localization (temporal and frontal-subcortical). It is proposed that three stages in language evolution could be distinguished: (a) primitive communication systems similar to those observed in other animals, including nonhuman primates; (b) initial communication systems using sound combinations (lexicon) but without relationships among the elements (grammar); and (c) advanced communication systems including word-combinations (grammar). It is proposed that grammar probably originated from the internal representation of actions, resulting in the creation of verbs; this is an ability that depends on the so-called Broca's area and related brain networks. It is suggested that grammar is the basic ability for the development of so-called metacognitive executive functions. It is concluded that while the lexical/semantic language system (vocabulary) probably appeared during human evolution long before the contemporary man (Homo sapiens sapiens), the grammatical language historically represents a recent acquisition and is correlated with the development of complex cognition (metacognitive executive functions). PMID:26124540

Can mathematics explain the evolution of human language?

PubMed

Witzany, Guenther

2011-09-01

Investigation into the sequence structure of the genetic code by means of an informatic approach is a real success story. The features of human language are also the object of investigation within the realm of formal language theories. They focus on the common rules of a universal grammar that lies behind all languages and determine generation of syntactic structures. This universal grammar is a depiction of material reality, i.e., the hidden logical order of things and its relations determined by natural laws. Therefore mathematics is viewed not only as an appropriate tool to investigate human language and genetic code structures through computer science-based formal language theory but is itself a depiction of material reality. This confusion between language as a scientific tool to describe observations/experiences within cognitive constructed models and formal language as a direct depiction of material reality occurs not only in current approaches but was the central focus of the philosophy of science debate in the twentieth century, with rather unexpected results. This article recalls these results and their implications for more recent mathematical approaches that also attempt to explain the evolution of human language.

Manual praxis in stone tool manufacture: implications for language evolution.

PubMed

Ruck, Lana

2014-12-01

Alternative functions of the left-hemisphere dominant Broca's region have induced hypotheses regarding the evolutionary parallels between manual praxis and language in humans. Many recent studies on Broca's area reveal several assumptions about the cognitive mechanisms that underlie both functions, including: (1) an accurate, finely controlled body schema, (2) increasing syntactical abilities, particularly for goal-oriented actions, and (3) bilaterality and fronto-parietal connectivity. Although these characteristics are supported by experimental paradigms, many researchers have failed to acknowledge a major line of evidence for the evolutionary development of these traits: stone tools. The neuroscience of stone tool manufacture is a viable proxy for understanding evolutionary aspects of manual praxis and language, and may provide key information for evaluating competing hypotheses on the co-evolution of these cognitive domains in our species. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolution of language: Lessons from the genome.

PubMed

Fisher, Simon E

2017-02-01

The post-genomic era is an exciting time for researchers interested in the biology of speech and language. Substantive advances in molecular methodologies have opened up entire vistas of investigation that were not previously possible, or in some cases even imagined. Speculations concerning the origins of human cognitive traits are being transformed into empirically addressable questions, generating specific hypotheses that can be explicitly tested using data collected from both the natural world and experimental settings. In this article, I discuss a number of promising lines of research in this area. For example, the field has begun to identify genes implicated in speech and language skills, including not just disorders but also the normal range of abilities. Such genes provide powerful entry points for gaining insights into neural bases and evolutionary origins, using sophisticated experimental tools from molecular neuroscience and developmental neurobiology. At the same time, sequencing of ancient hominin genomes is giving us an unprecedented view of the molecular genetic changes that have occurred during the evolution of our species. Synthesis of data from these complementary sources offers an opportunity to robustly evaluate alternative accounts of language evolution. Of course, this endeavour remains challenging on many fronts, as I also highlight in the article. Nonetheless, such an integrated approach holds great potential for untangling the complexities of the capacities that make us human.

Cognition and the evolution of camouflage.

PubMed

Skelhorn, John; Rowe, Candy

2016-02-24

Camouflage is one of the most widespread forms of anti-predator defence and prevents prey individuals from being detected or correctly recognized by would-be predators. Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in both the evolution of prey camouflage patterns, and in understanding animal cognition in a more ecological context. However, these fields rarely collide, and the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage is poorly understood. Here, we review what we currently know about the role of both predator and prey cognition in the evolution of prey camouflage, outline why cognition may be an important selective pressure driving the evolution of camouflage and consider how studying the cognitive processes of animals may prove to be a useful tool to study the evolution of camouflage, and vice versa. In doing so, we highlight that we still have a lot to learn about the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage and identify a number of avenues for future research. © 2016 The Author(s).

Cognition and the evolution of camouflage

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Camouflage is one of the most widespread forms of anti-predator defence and prevents prey individuals from being detected or correctly recognized by would-be predators. Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in both the evolution of prey camouflage patterns, and in understanding animal cognition in a more ecological context. However, these fields rarely collide, and the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage is poorly understood. Here, we review what we currently know about the role of both predator and prey cognition in the evolution of prey camouflage, outline why cognition may be an important selective pressure driving the evolution of camouflage and consider how studying the cognitive processes of animals may prove to be a useful tool to study the evolution of camouflage, and vice versa. In doing so, we highlight that we still have a lot to learn about the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage and identify a number of avenues for future research. PMID:26911959

Language at Three Timescales: The Role of Real-Time Processes in Language Development and Evolution.

PubMed

McMurray, Bob

2016-04-01

Evolutionary developmental systems (evo-devo) theory stresses that selection pressures operate on entire developmental systems rather than just genes. This study extends this approach to language evolution, arguing that selection pressure may operate on two quasi-independent timescales. First, children clearly must acquire language successfully (as acknowledged in traditional evo-devo accounts) and evolution must equip them with the tools to do so. Second, while this is developing, they must also communicate with others in the moment using partially developed knowledge. These pressures may require different solutions, and their combination may underlie the evolution of complex mechanisms for language development and processing. I present two case studies to illustrate how the demands of both real-time communication and language acquisition may be subtly different (and interact). The first case study examines infant-directed speech (IDS). A recent view is that IDS underwent cultural to statistical learning mechanisms that infants use to acquire the speech categories of their language. However, recent data suggest is it may not have evolved to enhance development, but rather to serve a more real-time communicative function. The second case study examines the argument for seemingly specialized mechanisms for learning word meanings (e.g., fast-mapping). Both behavioral and computational work suggest that learning may be much slower and served by general-purpose mechanisms like associative learning. Fast-mapping, then, may be a real-time process meant to serve immediate communication, not learning, by augmenting incomplete vocabulary knowledge with constraints from the current context. Together, these studies suggest that evolutionary accounts consider selection pressure arising from both real-time communicative demands and from the need for accurate language development. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Learning bias, cultural evolution of language, and the biological evolution of the language faculty.

PubMed

Smith, Kenny

2011-04-01

The biases of individual language learners act to determine the learnability and cultural stability of languages: learners come to the language learning task with biases which make certain linguistic systems easier to acquire than others. These biases are repeatedly applied during the process of language transmission, and consequently should effect the types of languages we see in human populations. Understanding the cultural evolutionary consequences of particular learning biases is therefore central to understanding the link between language learning in individuals and language universals, common structural properties shared by all the world’s languages. This paper reviews a range of models and experimental studies which show that weak biases in individual learners can have strong effects on the structure of socially learned systems such as language, suggesting that strong universal tendencies in language structure do not require us to postulate strong underlying biases or constraints on language learning. Furthermore, understanding the relationship between learner biases and language design has implications for theories of the evolution of those learning biases: models of gene-culture coevolution suggest that, in situations where a cultural dynamic mediates between properties of individual learners and properties of language in this way, biological evolution is unlikely to lead to the emergence of strong constraints on learning.

Building social cognitive models of language change.

PubMed

Hruschka, Daniel J; Christiansen, Morten H; Blythe, Richard A; Croft, William; Heggarty, Paul; Mufwene, Salikoko S; Pierrehumbert, Janet B; Poplack, Shana

2009-11-01

Studies of language change have begun to contribute to answering several pressing questions in cognitive sciences, including the origins of human language capacity, the social construction of cognition and the mechanisms underlying culture change in general. Here, we describe recent advances within a new emerging framework for the study of language change, one that models such change as an evolutionary process among competing linguistic variants. We argue that a crucial and unifying element of this framework is the use of probabilistic, data-driven models both to infer change and to compare competing claims about social and cognitive influences on language change.

Genes, language, cognition, and culture: towards productive inquiry.

PubMed

Fitch, W Tecumseh

2011-04-01

The Queen Mary conference on “Integrating Genetic and Cultural Evolutionary Approaches to Language,” and the papers in this special issue, clearly illustrate the excitement and potential of trans-disciplinary approaches to language as an evolved biological capacity (phylogeny) and an evolving cultural entity (glossogeny). Excepting the present author, the presenters/authors are mostly young rising stars in their respective fields, and include scientists with backgrounds in linguistics, animal communication, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and computer science. On display was a clear willingness to engage with different approaches and terminology and a commitment to shared standards of scientific rigor, empirically driven theory, and logical argument. Because the papers assembled here, together with the introduction, speak for themselves, I will focus in this “extro-duction” on some of the terminological and conceptual difficulties which threaten to block this exciting wave of scientific progress in understanding language evolution, in both senses of that term. In particular I will first argue against the regrettably widespread practice of opposing cultural and genetic explanations of human cognition as if they were dichotomous. Second, I will unpack the debate concerning “general-purpose” and “domain-specific” mechanisms, which masquerades as a debate about nativism but is nothing of the sort. I believe that framing discussions of language in these terms has generated more heat than light, and that a modern molecular understanding of genes, development, behavior, and evolution renders many of the assumptions underlying this debate invalid.

Storytelling, behavior planning, and language evolution in context.

PubMed

McBride, Glen

2014-01-01

An attempt is made to specify the structure of the hominin bands that began steps to language. Storytelling could evolve without need for language yet be strongly subject to natural selection and could provide a major feedback process in evolving language. A storytelling model is examined, including its effects on the evolution of consciousness and the possible timing of language evolution. Behavior planning is presented as a model of language evolution from storytelling. The behavior programming mechanism in both directions provide a model of creating and understanding behavior and language. Culture began with societies, then family evolution, family life in troops, but storytelling created a culture of experiences, a final step in the long process of achieving experienced adults by natural selection. Most language evolution occurred in conversations where evolving non-verbal feedback ensured mutual agreements on understanding. Natural language evolved in conversations with feedback providing understanding of changes.

Storytelling, behavior planning, and language evolution in context

PubMed Central

McBride, Glen

2014-01-01

An attempt is made to specify the structure of the hominin bands that began steps to language. Storytelling could evolve without need for language yet be strongly subject to natural selection and could provide a major feedback process in evolving language. A storytelling model is examined, including its effects on the evolution of consciousness and the possible timing of language evolution. Behavior planning is presented as a model of language evolution from storytelling. The behavior programming mechanism in both directions provide a model of creating and understanding behavior and language. Culture began with societies, then family evolution, family life in troops, but storytelling created a culture of experiences, a final step in the long process of achieving experienced adults by natural selection. Most language evolution occurred in conversations where evolving non-verbal feedback ensured mutual agreements on understanding. Natural language evolved in conversations with feedback providing understanding of changes. PMID:25360123

Modelling language evolution: Examples and predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Tao; Shuai, Lan; Zhang, Menghan

2014-06-01

We survey recent computer modelling research of language evolution, focusing on a rule-based model simulating the lexicon-syntax coevolution and an equation-based model quantifying the language competition dynamics. We discuss four predictions of these models: (a) correlation between domain-general abilities (e.g. sequential learning) and language-specific mechanisms (e.g. word order processing); (b) coevolution of language and relevant competences (e.g. joint attention); (c) effects of cultural transmission and social structure on linguistic understandability; and (d) commonalities between linguistic, biological, and physical phenomena. All these contribute significantly to our understanding of the evolutions of language structures, individual learning mechanisms, and relevant biological and socio-cultural factors. We conclude the survey by highlighting three future directions of modelling studies of language evolution: (a) adopting experimental approaches for model evaluation; (b) consolidating empirical foundations of models; and (c) multi-disciplinary collaboration among modelling, linguistics, and other relevant disciplines.

The Evolution of Musicality: What Can Be Learned from Language Evolution Research?

PubMed Central

Ravignani, Andrea; Thompson, Bill; Filippi, Piera

2018-01-01

Language and music share many commonalities, both as natural phenomena and as subjects of intellectual inquiry. Rather than exhaustively reviewing these connections, we focus on potential cross-pollination of methodological inquiries and attitudes. We highlight areas in which scholarship on the evolution of language may inform the evolution of music. We focus on the value of coupled empirical and formal methodologies, and on the futility of mysterianism, the declining view that the nature, origins and evolution of language cannot be addressed empirically. We identify key areas in which the evolution of language as a discipline has flourished historically, and suggest ways in which these advances can be integrated into the study of the evolution of music. PMID:29467601

The Evolution of Musicality: What Can Be Learned from Language Evolution Research?

PubMed

Ravignani, Andrea; Thompson, Bill; Filippi, Piera

2018-01-01

Language and music share many commonalities, both as natural phenomena and as subjects of intellectual inquiry. Rather than exhaustively reviewing these connections, we focus on potential cross-pollination of methodological inquiries and attitudes. We highlight areas in which scholarship on the evolution of language may inform the evolution of music. We focus on the value of coupled empirical and formal methodologies, and on the futility of mysterianism , the declining view that the nature, origins and evolution of language cannot be addressed empirically. We identify key areas in which the evolution of language as a discipline has flourished historically, and suggest ways in which these advances can be integrated into the study of the evolution of music.

Language Teacher Cognitions: Complex Dynamic Systems?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feryok, Anne

2010-01-01

Language teacher cognition research is a growing field. In recent years several features of language teacher cognitions have been noted: they can be complex, ranging over a number of different subjects; they can be dynamic, changing over time and under different influences; and they can be systems, forming unified and cohesive personal or…

Darwinian perspectives on the evolution of human languages.

PubMed

Pagel, Mark

2017-02-01

Human languages evolve by a process of descent with modification in which parent languages give rise to daughter languages over time and in a manner that mimics the evolution of biological species. Descent with modification is just one of many parallels between biological and linguistic evolution that, taken together, offer up a Darwinian perspective on how languages evolve. Combined with statistical methods borrowed from evolutionary biology, this Darwinian perspective has brought new opportunities to the study of the evolution of human languages. These include the statistical inference of phylogenetic trees of languages, the study of how linguistic traits evolve over thousands of years of language change, the reconstruction of ancestral or proto-languages, and using language change to date historical events.

Language evolution and human-computer interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grudin, Jonathan; Norman, Donald A.

1991-01-01

Many of the issues that confront designers of interactive computer systems also appear in natural language evolution. Natural languages and human-computer interfaces share as their primary mission the support of extended 'dialogues' between responsive entities. Because in each case one participant is a human being, some of the pressures operating on natural languages, causing them to evolve in order to better support such dialogue, also operate on human-computer 'languages' or interfaces. This does not necessarily push interfaces in the direction of natural language - since one entity in this dialogue is not a human, this is not to be expected. Nonetheless, by discerning where the pressures that guide natural language evolution also appear in human-computer interaction, we can contribute to the design of computer systems and obtain a new perspective on natural languages.

Enquire within: cultural evolution and cognitive science.

PubMed

Heyes, Cecilia

2018-04-05

Cultural evolution and cognitive science need each other. Cultural evolution needs cognitive science to find out whether the conditions necessary for Darwinian evolution are met in the cultural domain. Cognitive science needs cultural evolution to explain the origins of distinctively human cognitive processes. Focusing on the first question, I argue that cultural evolutionists can get empirical traction on third-way cultural selection by rooting the distinction between replication and reconstruction, two modes of cultural inheritance, in the distinction between System 1 and System 2 cognitive processes. This move suggests that cultural epidemiologists are right in thinking that replication has higher fidelity than reconstruction, and replication processes are not genetic adaptations for culture, but wrong to assume that replication is rare. If replication is not rare, an important requirement for third-way cultural selection, one-shot fidelity , is likely to be met. However, there are other requirements, overlooked by dual-inheritance theorists when they conflate strong (Darwinian) and weak (choice) senses of 'cultural selection', including dumb choices and recurrent fidelity In a second excursion into cognitive science, I argue that these requirements can be met by metacognitive social learning strategies , and trace the origins of these distinctively human cognitive processes to cultural evolution. Like other forms of cultural learning, they are not cognitive instincts but cognitive gadgets.This article is part of the theme issue 'Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution'. © 2018 The Author(s).

Language Learning by Dint of Social Cognitive Advancement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathew, Bincy; Raja, B. William Dharma

2015-01-01

Language is of vital importance to human beings. It is a means of communication and it has specific cognitive links. Advanced social cognition is necessary for children to acquire language, and sophisticated mind-reading abilities to assume word meanings and communicate pragmatically. Language can be defined as a bi-directional system that permits…

The evolution of stories: from mimesis to language, from fact to fiction.

PubMed

Boyd, Brian

2018-01-01

Why a species as successful as Homo sapiens should spend so much time in fiction, in telling one another stories that neither side believes, at first seems an evolutionary riddle. Because of the advantages of tracking and recombining true information, capacities for event comprehension, memory, imagination, and communication evolved in a range of animal species-yet even chimpanzees cannot communicate beyond the here and now. By Homo erectus, our forebears had reached an increasing dependence on one another, not least in sharing information in mimetic, prelinguistic ways. As Daniel Dor shows, the pressure to pool ever more information, even beyond currently shared experience, led to the invention of language. Language in turn swiftly unlocked efficient forms of narrative, allowing early humans to learn much more about their kind than they could experience at first hand, so that they could cooperate and compete better through understanding one another more fully. This changed the payoff of sociality for individuals and groups. But true narrative was still limited to what had already happened. Once the strong existing predisposition to play combined with existing capacities for event comprehension, memory, imagination, language, and narrative, we could begin to invent fiction, and to explore the full range of human possibilities in concentrated, engaging, memorable forms. First language, then narrative, then fiction, created niches that altered selection pressures, and made us ever more deeply dependent on knowing more about our kind and our risks and opportunities than we could discover through direct experience. WIREs Cogn Sci 2018, 9:e1444. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1444 This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language Neuroscience > Cognition. © 2017 The Author. WIREs Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Oscillopathic Nature of Language Deficits in Autism: From Genes to Language Evolution

PubMed Central

Benítez-Burraco, Antonio; Murphy, Elliot

2016-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders involving a number of deficits to linguistic cognition. The gap between genetics and the pathophysiology of ASD remains open, in particular regarding its distinctive linguistic profile. The goal of this article is to attempt to bridge this gap, focusing on how the autistic brain processes language, particularly through the perspective of brain rhythms. Due to the phenomenon of pleiotropy, which may take some decades to overcome, we believe that studies of brain rhythms, which are not faced with problems of this scale, may constitute a more tractable route to interpreting language deficits in ASD and eventually other neurocognitive disorders. Building on recent attempts to link neural oscillations to certain computational primitives of language, we show that interpreting language deficits in ASD as oscillopathic traits is a potentially fruitful way to construct successful endophenotypes of this condition. Additionally, we will show that candidate genes for ASD are overrepresented among the genes that played a role in the evolution of language. These genes include (and are related to) genes involved in brain rhythmicity. We hope that the type of steps taken here will additionally lead to a better understanding of the comorbidity, heterogeneity, and variability of ASD, and may help achieve a better treatment of the affected populations. PMID:27047363

Extended, Embodied Cognition and Second Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkinson, Dwight

2010-01-01

A "cognitivist" approach to cognition has traditionally dominated second language acquisition (SLA) studies. In this article, I examine two alternative approaches--"extended cognition" and "embodied cognition"--for how they might help us conceptualize SLA. More specifically, I present: (i) summaries of extended and embodied cognition, followed by…

A Cognitive Approach to the Development of Early Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Susan A.; Feldman, Judith F.; Jankowski, Jeffery J.

2009-01-01

A controversial issue in the field of language development is whether language emergence and growth is dependent solely on processes specifically tied to language or could also depend on basic cognitive processes that affect all aspects of cognitive competence (domain-general processes). The present article examines this issue using a large…

Evolution of speech and evolution of language.

PubMed

de Boer, Bart

2017-02-01

Speech is the physical signal used to convey spoken language. Because of its physical nature, speech is both easier to compare with other species' behaviors and easier to study in the fossil record than other aspects of language. Here I argue that convergent fossil evidence indicates adaptations for complex vocalizations at least as early as the common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans. Furthermore, I argue that it is unlikely that language evolved separately from speech, but rather that gesture, speech, and song coevolved to provide both a multimodal communication system and a musical system. Moreover, coevolution must also have played a role by allowing both cognitive and anatomical adaptations to language and speech to evolve in parallel. Although such a coevolutionary scenario is complex, it is entirely plausible from a biological point of view.

Pragmatics and the aims of language evolution.

PubMed

Scott-Phillips, Thomas C

2017-02-01

Pragmatics has historically played a relatively peripheral role in language evolution research. This is a profound mistake. Here I describe how a pragmatic perspective can inform language evolution in the most fundamental way: by making clear what the natural objects of study are, and hence what the aims of the field should be.

The evolution of language and thought.

PubMed

Lieberman, Philip

2016-06-20

Language primarily evolved as a vocal medium that transmits the attributes of human culture and the necessities of daily communication. Human language has a long, complex evolutionary history. Language also serves as an instrument of thought since it has become evident that in the course of this process neural circuits that initially evolved to regulate motor control, motor responses to external events, and ultimately talking were recycled to serve tasks such as working memory, cognitive flexibility linguistic tasks such as comprehending distinctions in meaning conveyed by syntax. This precludes the human brain possessing an organ devoted exclusively to language, such as the Faculty of Language proposed by Chomsky (1972, 2012). In essence like Fodor's (1983) modular model, a restatement of archaic phrenological theories (Spurzheim, 1815). The subcortical basal ganglia can be traced back to early anurans. Although our knowledge of the neural circuits of the human brain is at a very early stage and incomplete, the findings of independent studies over the past 40 years, discussed here, have identified circuits linking the basal ganglia with various areas of prefrontal cortex, posterior cortical regions and other subcortical structures. These circuits are active in linguistic tasks such as lexical access, comprehending distinctions in meaning conferred by syntax and the range of higher cognitive tasks involving executive control and play a critical role in conferring cognitive flexibility. The cingulate cortex which appeared in Therapsids, transitional mammal-like reptiles who lived in age of the dinosaurs, most likely enhanced mother-infant interaction, contributing to success in the Darwinian (1859) "Struggle for Existence" - the survival of progeny. They continue to fill that role in present-day mammals as well as being involved in controlling laryngeal phonation during speech and directing attention (Newman & MacLean, 1983; Cummings, 1993". The cerebellum and

Rate of language evolution is affected by population size

PubMed Central

Bromham, Lindell; Hua, Xia; Fitzpatrick, Thomas G.; Greenhill, Simon J.

2015-01-01

The effect of population size on patterns and rates of language evolution is controversial. Do languages with larger speaker populations change faster due to a greater capacity for innovation, or do smaller populations change faster due to more efficient diffusion of innovations? Do smaller populations suffer greater loss of language elements through founder effects or drift, or do languages with more speakers lose features due to a process of simplification? Revealing the influence of population size on the tempo and mode of language evolution not only will clarify underlying mechanisms of language change but also has practical implications for the way that language data are used to reconstruct the history of human cultures. Here, we provide, to our knowledge, the first empirical, statistically robust test of the influence of population size on rates of language evolution, controlling for the evolutionary history of the populations and formally comparing the fit of different models of language evolution. We compare rates of gain and loss of cognate words for basic vocabulary in Polynesian languages, an ideal test case with a well-defined history. We demonstrate that larger populations have higher rates of gain of new words whereas smaller populations have higher rates of word loss. These results show that demographic factors can influence rates of language evolution and that rates of gain and loss are affected differently. These findings are strikingly consistent with general predictions of evolutionary models. PMID:25646448

Language, embodiment, and the cognitive niche.

PubMed

Clark, Andy

2006-08-01

Embodied agents use bodily actions and environmental interventions to make the world a better place to think in. Where does language fit into this emerging picture of the embodied, ecologically efficient agent? One useful way to approach this question is to consider language itself as a cognition-enhancing animal-built structure. To take this perspective is to view language as a kind of self-constructed cognitive niche: a persisting but never stationary material scaffolding whose crucial role in promoting thought and reason remains surprisingly poorly understood. It is the very materiality of this linguistic scaffolding, I suggest, that gives it some key benefits. By materializing thought in words, we create structures that are themselves proper objects of perception, manipulation, and (further) thought.

Language architecture and its import for evolution.

PubMed

Chomsky, Noam

2017-10-01

Inquiry into the evolution of some biological system evidently can proceed only as far as its nature is understood. Lacking such understanding, its manifestations are likely to appear to be chaotic, highly variable, and lacking significant general properties; and, accordingly, study of its evolution cannot be seriously undertaken. These truisms hold of the study of the human faculty of language FL just as for other biological systems. As discussed below, FL appears to be a shared human capacity in essentials, with options of variation of a kind to which we return. After a long lapse, the problem of evolution of language arose in mid-twentieth century when the first efforts were made to construct accounts of FL as a biological object, internal to an individual, with particular internal languages - I-languages in current terminology - as manifestations of FL. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Physical Complexity and Cognitive Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jedlicka, Peter

Our intuition tells us that there is a general trend in the evolution of nature, a trend towards greater complexity. However, there are several definitions of complexity and hence it is difficult to argue for or against the validity of this intuition. Christoph Adami has recently introduced a novel measure called physical complexity that assigns low complexity to both ordered and random systems and high complexity to those in between. Physical complexity measures the amount of information that an organism stores in its genome about the environment in which it evolves. The theory of physical complexity predicts that evolution increases the amount of `knowledge' an organism accumulates about its niche. It might be fruitful to generalize Adami's concept of complexity to the entire evolution (including the evolution of man). Physical complexity fits nicely into the philosophical framework of cognitive biology which considers biological evolution as a progressing process of accumulation of knowledge (as a gradual increase of epistemic complexity). According to this paradigm, evolution is a cognitive `ratchet' that pushes the organisms unidirectionally towards higher complexity. Dynamic environment continually creates problems to be solved. To survive in the environment means to solve the problem, and the solution is an embodied knowledge. Cognitive biology (as well as the theory of physical complexity) uses the concepts of information and entropy and views the evolution from both the information-theoretical and thermodynamical perspective. Concerning humans as conscious beings, it seems necessary to postulate an emergence of a new kind of knowledge - a self-aware and self-referential knowledge. Appearence of selfreflection in evolution indicates that the human brain reached a new qualitative level in the epistemic complexity.

Cognitive Content Engagement in Content-Based Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kong, Stella; Hoare, Philip

2011-01-01

This article reports a study of aspects of pedagogy that can bring about students' cognitive engagement with academic content and, thus, use of the academic language in content-based language lessons in three middle schools in Xi'an, China. Two criteria--academic content level and depth of processing--were used to determine cognitive content…

Evolution of language assessment in patients with acquired neurological disorders in Brazil

PubMed Central

Parente, Maria Alice de Mattos Pimenta; Baradel, Roberta Roque; Fonseca, Rochele Paz; Pereira, Natalie; Carthery-Goulart, Maria Teresa

2014-01-01

The objective of this paper was to describe the evolution of language assessments in patients with acquired neurological diseases over a period of around 45 years from 1970, when interdisciplinarity in Neuropsychology first began in Brazil, to the present day. The first twenty years of data was based on memories of Speech Pathology University Professors who were in charge of teaching aphasia. We then show the contributions of Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology, as well as Psycholinguistic and Psychometric criteria, to language evaluation. Finally, the current panorama of adaptations and creations of validated and standardized instruments is given, based on a search of the databases Pubmed, Scopus and Lilacs. Our closing remarks highlight the diversity in evaluation approaches and the recent tendency of language evaluations linked to new technologies such as brain imaging and computational analysis. PMID:29213904

New thinking: the evolution of human cognition

PubMed Central

Heyes, Cecilia

2012-01-01

Humans are animals that specialize in thinking and knowing, and our extraordinary cognitive abilities have transformed every aspect of our lives. In contrast to our chimpanzee cousins and Stone Age ancestors, we are complex political, economic, scientific and artistic creatures, living in a vast range of habitats, many of which are our own creation. Research on the evolution of human cognition asks what types of thinking make us such peculiar animals, and how they have been generated by evolutionary processes. New research in this field looks deeper into the evolutionary history of human cognition, and adopts a more multi-disciplinary approach than earlier ‘Evolutionary Psychology’. It is informed by comparisons between humans and a range of primate and non-primate species, and integrates findings from anthropology, archaeology, economics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, philosophy and psychology. Using these methods, recent research reveals profound commonalities, as well striking differences, between human and non-human minds, and suggests that the evolution of human cognition has been much more gradual and incremental than previously assumed. It accords crucial roles to cultural evolution, techno-social co-evolution and gene–culture co-evolution. These have produced domain-general developmental processes with extraordinary power—power that makes human cognition, and human lives, unique. PMID:22734052

New thinking: the evolution of human cognition.

PubMed

Heyes, Cecilia

2012-08-05

Humans are animals that specialize in thinking and knowing, and our extraordinary cognitive abilities have transformed every aspect of our lives. In contrast to our chimpanzee cousins and Stone Age ancestors, we are complex political, economic, scientific and artistic creatures, living in a vast range of habitats, many of which are our own creation. Research on the evolution of human cognition asks what types of thinking make us such peculiar animals, and how they have been generated by evolutionary processes. New research in this field looks deeper into the evolutionary history of human cognition, and adopts a more multi-disciplinary approach than earlier 'Evolutionary Psychology'. It is informed by comparisons between humans and a range of primate and non-primate species, and integrates findings from anthropology, archaeology, economics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, philosophy and psychology. Using these methods, recent research reveals profound commonalities, as well striking differences, between human and non-human minds, and suggests that the evolution of human cognition has been much more gradual and incremental than previously assumed. It accords crucial roles to cultural evolution, techno-social co-evolution and gene-culture co-evolution. These have produced domain-general developmental processes with extraordinary power-power that makes human cognition, and human lives, unique.

Language Teacher Noticing: A Socio-Cognitive Window on Classroom Realities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Daniel O.; Cho, Minyoung

2018-01-01

This article introduces the construct of teacher noticing, situates it in research on second language teacher cognition, and considers its implications for research on second language teacher training, acknowledging socio-cognitive perspectives on language learning and teaching. We then present a mixed-methods observational study that utilized…

The role of domain-general cognitive control in language comprehension

PubMed Central

Fedorenko, Evelina

2014-01-01

What role does domain-general cognitive control play in understanding linguistic input? Although much evidence has suggested that domain-general cognitive control and working memory resources are sometimes recruited during language comprehension, many aspects of this relationship remain elusive. For example, how frequently do cognitive control mechanisms get engaged when we understand language? And is this engagement necessary for successful comprehension? I here (a) review recent brain imaging evidence for the neural separability of the brain regions that support high-level linguistic processing vs. those that support domain-general cognitive control abilities; (b) define the space of possibilities for the relationship between these sets of brain regions; and (c) review the available evidence that constrains these possibilities to some extent. I argue that we should stop asking whether domain-general cognitive control mechanisms play a role in language comprehension, and instead focus on characterizing the division of labor between the cognitive control brain regions and the more functionally specialized language regions. PMID:24803909

Cognitive characteristics of learning Java, an object-oriented programming language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Garry Lynn

Industry and Academia are moving from procedural programming languages (e.g., COBOL) to object-oriented programming languages, such as Java for the Internet. Past studies in the cognitive aspects of programming have focused primarily on procedural programming languages. Some of the languages used have been Pascal, C, Basic, FORTAN, and COBOL. Object-oriented programming (OOP) represents a new paradigm for computing. Industry is finding that programmers are having difficulty shifting to this new programming paradigm. This instruction in OOP is currently starting in colleges and universities across the country. What are the cognitive aspects for this new OOP language Java? When is a student developmentally ready to handle the cognitive characteristics of the OOP language Java? Which cognitive teaching style is best for this OOP language Java? Questions such as the aforementioned are the focus of this research Such research is needed to improve understanding of the learning process and identify students' difficulties with OOP methods. This can enhance academic teaching and industry training (Scholtz, 1993; Sheetz, 1997; Rosson, 1990). Cognitive development as measured by the Propositional Logic Test, cognitive style as measured by the Hemispheric Mode Indicator, and physical hemispheric dominance as measured by a self-report survey were obtained from thirty-six university students studying Java programming. Findings reveal that physical hemispheric dominance is unrelated to cognitive and programming language variables. However, both procedural and object oriented programming require Piaget's formal operation cognitive level as indicated by the Propositional Logic Test. This is consistent with prior research A new finding is that object oriented programming also requires formal operation cognitive level. Another new finding is that object oriented programming appears to be unrelated to hemispheric cognitive style as indicated by the Hemispheric Mode Indicator (HMI

Early human communication helps in understanding language evolution.

PubMed

Lenti Boero, Daniela

2014-12-01

Building a theory on extant species, as Ackermann et al. do, is a useful contribution to the field of language evolution. Here, I add another living model that might be of interest: human language ontogeny in the first year of life. A better knowledge of this phase might help in understanding two more topics among the "several building blocks of a comprehensive theory of the evolution of spoken language" indicated in their conclusion by Ackermann et al., that is, the foundation of the co-evolution of linguistic motor skills with the auditory skills underlying speech perception, and the possible phylogenetic interactions of protospeech production with referential capabilities.

Contemporary Accounts of the Cognition/Language Relationship: Implications for Speech-Language Clinicians.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Mabel L.

1983-01-01

A review of research on how cognition relates to language in children with language impairments discusses terminology and analyzes the basic mapping problem. Evidence for a variety of hypotheses related to the issue are examined. (CL)

Autoimmunity as a Driving Force of Cognitive Evolution

PubMed Central

Nataf, Serge

2017-01-01

In the last decades, increasingly robust experimental approaches have formally demonstrated that autoimmunity is a physiological process involved in a large range of functions including cognition. On this basis, the recently enunciated “brain superautoantigens” theory proposes that autoimmunity has been a driving force of cognitive evolution. It is notably suggested that the immune and nervous systems have somehow co-evolved and exerted a mutual selection pressure benefiting to both systems. In this two-way process, the evolutionary-determined emergence of neurons expressing specific immunogenic antigens (brain superautoantigens) has exerted a selection pressure on immune genes shaping the T-cell repertoire. Such a selection pressure on immune genes has translated into the emergence of a finely tuned autoimmune T-cell repertoire that promotes cognition. In another hand, the evolutionary-determined emergence of brain-autoreactive T-cells has exerted a selection pressure on neural genes coding for brain superautoantigens. Such a selection pressure has translated into the emergence of a neural repertoire (defined here as the whole of neurons, synapses and non-neuronal cells involved in cognitive functions) expressing brain superautoantigens. Overall, the brain superautoantigens theory suggests that cognitive evolution might have been primarily driven by internal cues rather than external environmental conditions. Importantly, while providing a unique molecular connection between neural and T-cell repertoires under physiological conditions, brain superautoantigens may also constitute an Achilles heel responsible for the particular susceptibility of Homo sapiens to “neuroimmune co-pathologies” i.e., disorders affecting both neural and T-cell repertoires. These may notably include paraneoplastic syndromes, multiple sclerosis as well as autism, schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases. In the context of this theoretical frame, a specific emphasis is given here

Evolution in Mind: Evolutionary Dynamics, Cognitive Processes, and Bayesian Inference.

PubMed

Suchow, Jordan W; Bourgin, David D; Griffiths, Thomas L

2017-07-01

Evolutionary theory describes the dynamics of population change in settings affected by reproduction, selection, mutation, and drift. In the context of human cognition, evolutionary theory is most often invoked to explain the origins of capacities such as language, metacognition, and spatial reasoning, framing them as functional adaptations to an ancestral environment. However, evolutionary theory is useful for understanding the mind in a second way: as a mathematical framework for describing evolving populations of thoughts, ideas, and memories within a single mind. In fact, deep correspondences exist between the mathematics of evolution and of learning, with perhaps the deepest being an equivalence between certain evolutionary dynamics and Bayesian inference. This equivalence permits reinterpretation of evolutionary processes as algorithms for Bayesian inference and has relevance for understanding diverse cognitive capacities, including memory and creativity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Linguistics and the Second Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holme, Randal

2012-01-01

Cognitive Linguistics (CL) makes the functional assumption that form is motivated by meaning. CL also analyses form-meaning pairings as products of how cognition structures perception. CL thus helps teachers to fit language to the nature of the cognition that learns whilst devising modes of instruction that are better attuned to the nature of the…

The cognitive niche: Coevolution of intelligence, sociality, and language

PubMed Central

Pinker, Steven

2010-01-01

Although Darwin insisted that human intelligence could be fully explained by the theory of evolution, the codiscoverer of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace, claimed that abstract intelligence was of no use to ancestral humans and could only be explained by intelligent design. Wallace's apparent paradox can be dissolved with two hypotheses about human cognition. One is that intelligence is an adaptation to a knowledge-using, socially interdependent lifestyle, the “cognitive niche.” This embraces the ability to overcome the evolutionary fixed defenses of plants and animals by applications of reasoning, including weapons, traps, coordinated driving of game, and detoxification of plants. Such reasoning exploits intuitive theories about different aspects of the world, such as objects, forces, paths, places, states, substances, and other people's beliefs and desires. The theory explains many zoologically unusual traits in Homo sapiens, including our complex toolkit, wide range of habitats and diets, extended childhoods and long lives, hypersociality, complex mating, division into cultures, and language (which multiplies the benefit of knowledge because know-how is useful not only for its practical benefits but as a trade good with others, enhancing the evolution of cooperation). The second hypothesis is that humans possess an ability of metaphorical abstraction, which allows them to coopt faculties that originally evolved for physical problem-solving and social coordination, apply them to abstract subject matter, and combine them productively. These abilities can help explain the emergence of abstract cognition without supernatural or exotic evolutionary forces and are in principle testable by analyses of statistical signs of selection in the human genome. PMID:20445094

Archeological insights into hominin cognitive evolution.

PubMed

Wynn, Thomas; Coolidge, Frederick L

2016-07-01

How did the human mind evolve? How and when did we come to think in the ways we do? The last thirty years have seen an explosion in research related to the brain and cognition. This research has encompassed a range of biological and social sciences, from epigenetics and cognitive neuroscience to social and developmental psychology. Following naturally on this efflorescence has been a heightened interest in the evolution of the brain and cognition. Evolutionary scholars, including paleoanthropologists, have deployed the standard array of evolutionary methods. Ethological and experimental evidence has added significantly to our understanding of nonhuman brains and cognition, especially those of nonhuman primates. Studies of fossil brains through endocasts and sophisticated imaging techniques have revealed evolutionary changes in gross neural anatomy. Psychologists have also gotten into the game through application of reverse engineering to experimentally based descriptions of cognitive functions. For hominin evolution, there is another rich source of evidence of cognition, the archeological record. Using the methods of Paleolithic archeology and the theories and models of cognitive science, evolutionary cognitive archeology documents developments in the hominin mind that would otherwise be inaccessible. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Mirror Neurons and the Evolution of Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corballis, Michael C.

2010-01-01

The mirror system provided a natural platform for the subsequent evolution of language. In nonhuman primates, the system provides for the understanding of biological action, and possibly for imitation, both prerequisites for language. I argue that language evolved from manual gestures, initially as a system of pantomime, but with gestures…

Networks of lexical borrowing and lateral gene transfer in language and genome evolution

PubMed Central

List, Johann-Mattis; Nelson-Sathi, Shijulal; Geisler, Hans; Martin, William

2014-01-01

Like biological species, languages change over time. As noted by Darwin, there are many parallels between language evolution and biological evolution. Insights into these parallels have also undergone change in the past 150 years. Just like genes, words change over time, and language evolution can be likened to genome evolution accordingly, but what kind of evolution? There are fundamental differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic evolution. In the former, natural variation entails the gradual accumulation of minor mutations in alleles. In the latter, lateral gene transfer is an integral mechanism of natural variation. The study of language evolution using biological methods has attracted much interest of late, most approaches focusing on language tree construction. These approaches may underestimate the important role that borrowing plays in language evolution. Network approaches that were originally designed to study lateral gene transfer may provide more realistic insights into the complexities of language evolution. PMID:24375688

Iterated learning and the evolution of language.

PubMed

Kirby, Simon; Griffiths, Tom; Smith, Kenny

2014-10-01

Iterated learning describes the process whereby an individual learns their behaviour by exposure to another individual's behaviour, who themselves learnt it in the same way. It can be seen as a key mechanism of cultural evolution. We review various methods for understanding how behaviour is shaped by the iterated learning process: computational agent-based simulations; mathematical modelling; and laboratory experiments in humans and non-human animals. We show how this framework has been used to explain the origins of structure in language, and argue that cultural evolution must be considered alongside biological evolution in explanations of language origins. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using hybridization networks to retrace the evolution of Indo-European languages.

PubMed

Willems, Matthieu; Lord, Etienne; Laforest, Louise; Labelle, Gilbert; Lapointe, François-Joseph; Di Sciullo, Anna Maria; Makarenkov, Vladimir

2016-09-06

Curious parallels between the processes of species and language evolution have been observed by many researchers. Retracing the evolution of Indo-European (IE) languages remains one of the most intriguing intellectual challenges in historical linguistics. Most of the IE language studies use the traditional phylogenetic tree model to represent the evolution of natural languages, thus not taking into account reticulate evolutionary events, such as language hybridization and word borrowing which can be associated with species hybridization and horizontal gene transfer, respectively. More recently, implicit evolutionary networks, such as split graphs and minimal lateral networks, have been used to account for reticulate evolution in linguistics. Striking parallels existing between the evolution of species and natural languages allowed us to apply three computational biology methods for reconstruction of phylogenetic networks to model the evolution of IE languages. We show how the transfer of methods between the two disciplines can be achieved, making necessary methodological adaptations. Considering basic vocabulary data from the well-known Dyen's lexical database, which contains word forms in 84 IE languages for the meanings of a 200-meaning Swadesh list, we adapt a recently developed computational biology algorithm for building explicit hybridization networks to study the evolution of IE languages and compare our findings to the results provided by the split graph and galled network methods. We conclude that explicit phylogenetic networks can be successfully used to identify donors and recipients of lexical material as well as the degree of influence of each donor language on the corresponding recipient languages. We show that our algorithm is well suited to detect reticulate relationships among languages, and present some historical and linguistic justification for the results obtained. Our findings could be further refined if relevant syntactic, phonological and

Cognitive Approach to Assessing Pragmatic Language Comprehension in Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryder, Nuala; Leinonen, Eeva; Schulz, Joerg

2008-01-01

Background: Pragmatic language impairment in children with specific language impairment has proved difficult to assess, and the nature of their abilities to comprehend pragmatic meaning has not been fully investigated. Aims: To develop both a cognitive approach to pragmatic language assessment based on Relevance Theory and an assessment tool for…

Language in Cognitive Development: The Emergence of the Mediated Mind.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Katherine

This book presents an integrated theory of cognitive development in infancy and early childhood, emphasizing the role of language in memory, processing narratives, forming concepts, and understanding others' intentions. Chapter 1, "Language, Cognition, and Culture in Developmental Perspective," presents the experiential theoretical…

Modeling Co-evolution of Speech and Biology.

PubMed

de Boer, Bart

2016-04-01

Two computer simulations are investigated that model interaction of cultural evolution of language and biological evolution of adaptations to language. Both are agent-based models in which a population of agents imitates each other using realistic vowels. The agents evolve under selective pressure for good imitation. In one model, the evolution of the vocal tract is modeled; in the other, a cognitive mechanism for perceiving speech accurately is modeled. In both cases, biological adaptations to using and learning speech evolve, even though the system of speech sounds itself changes at a more rapid time scale than biological evolution. However, the fact that the available acoustic space is used maximally (a self-organized result of cultural evolution) is constant, and therefore biological evolution does have a stable target. This work shows that when cultural and biological traits are continuous, their co-evolution may lead to cognitive adaptations that are strong enough to detect empirically. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Two languages, two minds: flexible cognitive processing driven by language of operation.

PubMed

Athanasopoulos, Panos; Bylund, Emanuel; Montero-Melis, Guillermo; Damjanovic, Ljubica; Schartner, Alina; Kibbe, Alexandra; Riches, Nick; Thierry, Guillaume

2015-04-01

People make sense of objects and events around them by classifying them into identifiable categories. The extent to which language affects this process has been the focus of a long-standing debate: Do different languages cause their speakers to behave differently? Here, we show that fluent German-English bilinguals categorize motion events according to the grammatical constraints of the language in which they operate. First, as predicted from cross-linguistic differences in motion encoding, bilingual participants functioning in a German testing context prefer to match events on the basis of motion completion to a greater extent than do bilingual participants in an English context. Second, when bilingual participants experience verbal interference in English, their categorization behavior is congruent with that predicted for German; when bilingual participants experience verbal interference in German, their categorization becomes congruent with that predicted for English. These findings show that language effects on cognition are context-bound and transient, revealing unprecedented levels of malleability in human cognition. © The Author(s) 2015.

Relative Contribution of Perception/Cognition and Language on Spatial Categorization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Soonja; Hattrup, Kate

2012-01-01

This study investigated the relative contribution of perception/cognition and language-specific semantics in nonverbal categorization of spatial relations. English and Korean speakers completed a video-based similarity judgment task involving containment, support, tight fit, and loose fit. Both perception/cognition and language served as resources…

Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Learning: Theoretical Basics and Experimental Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyler, Andrea

2012-01-01

This book illustrates the ways that cognitive linguistics, a relatively new paradigm in language studies, can illuminate and facilitate language research and teaching. The first part of the book introduces the basics of cognitive linguistic theory in a way that is geared toward second language teachers and researchers. The second part of the book…

Brain. Conscious and Unconscious Mechanisms of Cognition, Emotions, and Language

PubMed Central

Perlovsky, Leonid; Ilin, Roman

2012-01-01

Conscious and unconscious brain mechanisms, including cognition, emotions and language are considered in this review. The fundamental mechanisms of cognition include interactions between bottom-up and top-down signals. The modeling of these interactions since the 1960s is briefly reviewed, analyzing the ubiquitous difficulty: incomputable combinatorial complexity (CC). Fundamental reasons for CC are related to the Gödel’s difficulties of logic, a most fundamental mathematical result of the 20th century. Many scientists still “believed” in logic because, as the review discusses, logic is related to consciousness; non-logical processes in the brain are unconscious. CC difficulty is overcome in the brain by processes “from vague-unconscious to crisp-conscious” (representations, plans, models, concepts). These processes are modeled by dynamic logic, evolving from vague and unconscious representations toward crisp and conscious thoughts. We discuss experimental proofs and relate dynamic logic to simulators of the perceptual symbol system. “From vague to crisp” explains interactions between cognition and language. Language is mostly conscious, whereas cognition is only rarely so; this clarifies much about the mind that might seem mysterious. All of the above involve emotions of a special kind, aesthetic emotions related to knowledge and to cognitive dissonances. Cognition-language-emotional mechanisms operate throughout the hierarchy of the mind and create all higher mental abilities. The review discusses cognitive functions of the beautiful, sublime, music. PMID:24961270

Music and language perception: expectations, structural integration, and cognitive sequencing.

PubMed

Tillmann, Barbara

2012-10-01

Music can be described as sequences of events that are structured in pitch and time. Studying music processing provides insight into how complex event sequences are learned, perceived, and represented by the brain. Given the temporal nature of sound, expectations, structural integration, and cognitive sequencing are central in music perception (i.e., which sounds are most likely to come next and at what moment should they occur?). This paper focuses on similarities in music and language cognition research, showing that music cognition research provides insight into the understanding of not only music processing but also language processing and the processing of other structured stimuli. The hypothesis of shared resources between music and language processing and of domain-general dynamic attention has motivated the development of research to test music as a means to stimulate sensory, cognitive, and motor processes. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Language and other artifacts: socio-cultural dynamics of niche construction

PubMed Central

Sinha, Chris

2015-01-01

Niche construction theory is a relatively new approach in evolutionary biology that seeks to integrate an ecological dimension into the Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection. It is regarded by many evolutionary biologists as providing a significant revision of the Neo-Darwinian modern synthesis that unified Darwin’s theory of natural and sexual selection with 20th century population genetics. Niche construction theory has been invoked as a processual mediator of social cognitive evolution and of the emergence and evolution of language. I argue that language itself can be considered as a biocultural niche and evolutionary artifact. I provide both a general analysis of the cognitive and semiotic status of artifacts, and a formal analysis of language as a social and semiotic institution, based upon a distinction between the fundamental semiotic relations of “counting as” and “standing for.” I explore the consequences for theories of language and language learning of viewing language as a biocultural niche. I suggest that not only do niches mediate organism-organism interactions, but also that organisms mediate niche-niche interactions in ways that affect evolutionary processes, with the evolution of human infancy and childhood as a key example. I argue that language as a social and semiotic system is not only grounded in embodied engagements with the material and social-interactional world, but also grounds a sub-class of artifacts of particular significance in the cultural history of human cognition. Symbolic cognitive artifacts materially and semiotically mediate human cognition, and are not merely informational repositories, but co-agentively constitutive of culturally and historically emergent cognitive domains. I provide examples of the constitutive cognitive role of symbolic cognitive artifacts drawn from my research with my colleagues on cultural and linguistic conceptualizations of time, and their cultural variability. I conclude by

Plasticity of Human Spatial Cognition: Spatial Language and Cognition Covary across Cultures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haun, Daniel B. M.; Rapold, Christian J.; Janzen, Gabriele; Levinson, Stephen C.

2011-01-01

The present paper explores cross-cultural variation in spatial cognition by comparing spatial reconstruction tasks by Dutch and Namibian elementary school children. These two communities differ in the way they predominantly express spatial relations in language. Four experiments investigate cognitive strategy preferences across different levels of…

Plasticity of human spatial cognition: spatial language and cognition covary across cultures.

PubMed

Haun, Daniel B M; Rapold, Christian J; Janzen, Gabriele; Levinson, Stephen C

2011-04-01

The present paper explores cross-cultural variation in spatial cognition by comparing spatial reconstruction tasks by Dutch and Namibian elementary school children. These two communities differ in the way they predominantly express spatial relations in language. Four experiments investigate cognitive strategy preferences across different levels of task-complexity and instruction. Data show a correlation between dominant linguistic spatial frames of reference and performance patterns in non-linguistic spatial memory tasks. This correlation is shown to be stable across an increase of complexity in the spatial array. When instructed to use their respective non-habitual cognitive strategy, participants were not easily able to switch between strategies and their attempts to do so impaired their performance. These results indicate a difference not only in preference but also in competence and suggest that spatial language and non-linguistic preferences and competences in spatial cognition are systematically aligned across human populations. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Left inferior parietal lobe engagement in social cognition and language.

PubMed

Bzdok, Danilo; Hartwigsen, Gesa; Reid, Andrew; Laird, Angela R; Fox, Peter T; Eickhoff, Simon B

2016-09-01

Social cognition and language are two core features of the human species. Despite distributed recruitment of brain regions in each mental capacity, the left parietal lobe (LPL) represents a zone of topographical convergence. The present study quantitatively summarizes hundreds of neuroimaging studies on social cognition and language. Using connectivity-based parcellation on a meta-analytically defined volume of interest (VOI), regional coactivation patterns within this VOI allowed identifying distinct subregions. Across parcellation solutions, two clusters emerged consistently in rostro-ventral and caudo-ventral aspects of the parietal VOI. Both clusters were functionally significantly associated with social-cognitive and language processing. In particular, the rostro-ventral cluster was associated with lower-level processing facets, while the caudo-ventral cluster was associated with higher-level processing facets in both mental capacities. Contrarily, in the (less stable) dorsal parietal VOI, all clusters reflected computation of general-purpose processes, such as working memory and matching tasks, that are frequently co-recruited by social or language processes. Our results hence favour a rostro-caudal distinction of lower- versus higher-level processes underlying social cognition and language in the left inferior parietal lobe. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Left inferior parietal lobe engagement in social cognition and language

PubMed Central

Bzdok, Danilo; Hartwigsen, Gesa; Reid, Andrew; Laird, Angela R.; Fox, Peter T.; Eickhoff, Simon B.

2017-01-01

Social cognition and language are two core features of the human species. Despite distributed recruitment of brain regions in each mental capacity, the left parietal lobe (LPL) represents a zone of topographical convergence. The present study quantitatively summarizes hundreds of neuroimaging studies on social cognition and language. Using connectivity-based parcellation on a meta-analytically defined volume of interest (VOI), regional coactivation patterns within this VOI allowed identifying distinct subregions. Across parcellation solutions, two clusters emerged consistently in rostro-ventral and caudo-ventral aspects of the parietal VOI. Both clusters were functionally significantly associated with social-cognitive and language processing. In particular, the rostro-ventral cluster was associated with lower-level processing facets, while the caudo-ventral cluster was associated with higher-level processing facets in both mental capacities. Contrarily, in the (less stable) dorsal parietal VOI, all clusters reflected computation of general-purpose processes, such as working memory and matching tasks, that are frequently co-recruited by social or language processes. Our results hence favour a rostro-caudal distinction of lower-versus higher-level processes underlying social cognition and language in the left inferior parietal lobe. PMID:27241201

Niche construction, social cognition, and language: hypothesizing the human as the production of place.

PubMed

Davies, Oliver

2016-01-01

New data is emerging from evolutionary anthropology and the neuroscience of social cognition on our species-specific hyper-cooperation (HC). This paper attempts an integration of third-person archaeological and second-person, neuroscientific perspectives on the structure of HC, through a post-Ricoeurian development in hermeneutical phenomenology. We argue for the relatively late evolution of advanced linguistic consciousness (ALC) (Hiscock in Biological Theory 9:27-41, 2014), as a reflexive system based on the 'in-between' or 'cognitive system' as reported by Vogeley et al. (in: Interdisziplinäre anthropologie, Heidelberg, Springer, 2014) of face-to-face social cognition, as well as tool use. The possibility of a positive or negative tension between the more recent ALC and the more ancient, pre-thematic, self-organizing 'in-between' frames an 'internal' niche construction. This indexes the internal structure of HC as 'convergence', where complex, engaged, social reasoning in ALC mirrors the cognitive structure of the pre-thematic 'in-between', extending the bio-energy of our social cognition, through reflexive amplification, in the production of 'social place' as 'humanized space'. If individual word/phrase acquisition, in contextual actuality, is the distinctive feature of human language (Hurford in European Reviews 12:551-565, 2004), then human language is a hyperbolic, species-wide training in particularized co-location, developing consciousness of a shared world. The humanization of space and production of HC, through co-location, requires the 'disarming' of language as a medium of control, and a foregrounding of the materiality of the sign. The production of 'hyper-place' as solidarity beyond the face-to-face, typical of world religions, becomes possible where internal niche construction as convergence with the 'in-between' (world in us) combines with religious cosmologies reflecting an external 'cosmic' niche construction (world outside us).

Modeling Coevolution between Language and Memory Capacity during Language Origin

PubMed Central

Gong, Tao; Shuai, Lan

2015-01-01

Memory is essential to many cognitive tasks including language. Apart from empirical studies of memory effects on language acquisition and use, there lack sufficient evolutionary explorations on whether a high level of memory capacity is prerequisite for language and whether language origin could influence memory capacity. In line with evolutionary theories that natural selection refined language-related cognitive abilities, we advocated a coevolution scenario between language and memory capacity, which incorporated the genetic transmission of individual memory capacity, cultural transmission of idiolects, and natural and cultural selections on individual reproduction and language teaching. To illustrate the coevolution dynamics, we adopted a multi-agent computational model simulating the emergence of lexical items and simple syntax through iterated communications. Simulations showed that: along with the origin of a communal language, an initially-low memory capacity for acquired linguistic knowledge was boosted; and such coherent increase in linguistic understandability and memory capacities reflected a language-memory coevolution; and such coevolution stopped till memory capacities became sufficient for language communications. Statistical analyses revealed that the coevolution was realized mainly by natural selection based on individual communicative success in cultural transmissions. This work elaborated the biology-culture parallelism of language evolution, demonstrated the driving force of culturally-constituted factors for natural selection of individual cognitive abilities, and suggested that the degree difference in language-related cognitive abilities between humans and nonhuman animals could result from a coevolution with language. PMID:26544876

Modeling Coevolution between Language and Memory Capacity during Language Origin.

PubMed

Gong, Tao; Shuai, Lan

2015-01-01

Memory is essential to many cognitive tasks including language. Apart from empirical studies of memory effects on language acquisition and use, there lack sufficient evolutionary explorations on whether a high level of memory capacity is prerequisite for language and whether language origin could influence memory capacity. In line with evolutionary theories that natural selection refined language-related cognitive abilities, we advocated a coevolution scenario between language and memory capacity, which incorporated the genetic transmission of individual memory capacity, cultural transmission of idiolects, and natural and cultural selections on individual reproduction and language teaching. To illustrate the coevolution dynamics, we adopted a multi-agent computational model simulating the emergence of lexical items and simple syntax through iterated communications. Simulations showed that: along with the origin of a communal language, an initially-low memory capacity for acquired linguistic knowledge was boosted; and such coherent increase in linguistic understandability and memory capacities reflected a language-memory coevolution; and such coevolution stopped till memory capacities became sufficient for language communications. Statistical analyses revealed that the coevolution was realized mainly by natural selection based on individual communicative success in cultural transmissions. This work elaborated the biology-culture parallelism of language evolution, demonstrated the driving force of culturally-constituted factors for natural selection of individual cognitive abilities, and suggested that the degree difference in language-related cognitive abilities between humans and nonhuman animals could result from a coevolution with language.

Evidence for shared cognitive processing of pitch in music and language.

PubMed

Perrachione, Tyler K; Fedorenko, Evelina G; Vinke, Louis; Gibson, Edward; Dilley, Laura C

2013-01-01

Language and music epitomize the complex representational and computational capacities of the human mind. Strikingly similar in their structural and expressive features, a longstanding question is whether the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying these abilities are shared or distinct--either from each other or from other mental processes. One prominent feature shared between language and music is signal encoding using pitch, conveying pragmatics and semantics in language and melody in music. We investigated how pitch processing is shared between language and music by measuring consistency in individual differences in pitch perception across language, music, and three control conditions intended to assess basic sensory and domain-general cognitive processes. Individuals' pitch perception abilities in language and music were most strongly related, even after accounting for performance in all control conditions. These results provide behavioral evidence, based on patterns of individual differences, that is consistent with the hypothesis that cognitive mechanisms for pitch processing may be shared between language and music.

Social cognition and externalizing psychopathology: an investigation of the mediating role of language.

PubMed

Zadeh, Zohreh Yaghoub; Im-Bolter, Nancie; Cohen, Nancy J

2007-04-01

The present study integrates findings from three lines of research on the association of social cognition and externalizing psychopathology, language and externalizing psychopathology, and social cognition and language functioning using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). To date these associations have been examined in pairs. A sample of 354 clinic-referred children (aged 7 to 14 years) recruited from a children's mental health centre were tested on measures of language, social cognition, working memory, and child psychopathology. We compared a hypothesized model presenting language functioning as a mediator of the association between social cognition and externalizing psychopathology to a model presenting the independent contribution of language and social cognition to externalizing psychopathology. As hypothesized, we found that the mediation model fits the data better than the alternative model. Our findings have implications for developing and modifying intervention techniques for children with dual language and externalizing psychopathology.

Mirror neurons and the evolution of language.

PubMed

Corballis, Michael C

2010-01-01

The mirror system provided a natural platform for the subsequent evolution of language. In nonhuman primates, the system provides for the understanding of biological action, and possibly for imitation, both prerequisites for language. I argue that language evolved from manual gestures, initially as a system of pantomime, but with gestures gradually "conventionalizing" to assume more symbolic form. The evolution of episodic memory and mental time travel, probably beginning with the genus Homo during the Pleistocene, created pressure for the system to "grammaticalize," involving the increased vocabulary necessary to refer to episodes separated in time and place from the present, constructions such as tense to refer to time itself, and the generativity to construct future (and fictional) episodes. In parallel with grammaticalization, the language medium gradually incorporated facial and then vocal elements, culminating in autonomous speech (albeit accompanied still by manual gesture) in our own species, Homo sapiens. 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Memory and cognitive control in an integrated theory of language processing.

PubMed

Slevc, L Robert; Novick, Jared M

2013-08-01

Pickering & Garrod's (P&G's) integrated model of production and comprehension includes no explicit role for nonlinguistic cognitive processes. Yet, how domain-general cognitive functions contribute to language processing has become clearer with well-specified theories and supporting data. We therefore believe that their account can benefit by incorporating functions like working memory and cognitive control into a unified model of language processing.

Joint attention and language evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwisthout, Johan; Vogt, Paul; Haselager, Pim; Dijkstra, Ton

2008-06-01

This study investigates how more advanced joint attentional mechanisms, rather than only shared attention between two agents and an object, can be implemented and how they influence the results of language games played by these agents. We present computer simulations with language games showing that adding constructs that mimic the three stages of joint attention identified in children's early development (checking attention, following attention, and directing attention) substantially increase the performance of agents in these language games. In particular, the rates of improved performance for the individual attentional mechanisms have the same ordering as that of the emergence of these mechanisms in infants' development. These results suggest that language evolution and joint attentional mechanisms have developed in a co-evolutionary way, and that the evolutionary emergence of the individual attentional mechanisms is ordered just like their developmental emergence.

The Mexican American Child: Language, Cognition, and Social Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Eugene E., Ed.

The nine articles are divided into three general topics: language, cognition, and social development. Eduardo Hernandez-Chavez discusses strategies in early second language acquisition and their implications for bilingual instruction. Eugene E. Garcia, Lento Maez, and Gustavo Gonzales examine the incidence of language switching in Spanish/English…

Synaptic scaffold evolution generated components of vertebrate cognitive complexity

PubMed Central

Nithianantharajah, J.; Komiyama, N.H.; McKechanie, A.; Johnstone, M.; Blackwood, D. H.; St Clair, D.; Emes, R.D.; van de Lagemaat, L. N.; Saksida, L.M.; Bussey, T.J.; Grant, S.G.N.

2014-01-01

The origins and evolution of higher cognitive functions including complex forms of learning, attention and executive functions are unknown. A potential mechanism driving the evolution of vertebrate cognition early in the vertebrate lineage (550 My ago) was genome duplication and subsequent diversification of postsynaptic genes. Here we report the first genetic analysis of a vertebrate gene family in cognitive functions measured using computerized touchscreens. Comparison of mice carrying mutations in all four Dlg paralogs show simple associative learning required Dlg4, while Dlg2 and Dlg3 diversified to play opposing roles in complex cognitive processes. Exploiting the translational utility of touchscreens in humans and mice, testing Dlg2 mutations in both species showed Dlg2’s role in complex learning, cognitive flexibility and attention has been highly conserved over 100 My. Dlg family mutations underlie psychiatric disorders suggesting genome evolution expanded the complexity of vertebrate cognition at the cost of susceptibility to mental illness. PMID:23201973

Unraveling the evolution of uniquely human cognition.

PubMed

MacLean, Evan L

2016-06-07

A satisfactory account of human cognitive evolution will explain not only the psychological mechanisms that make our species unique, but also how, when, and why these traits evolved. To date, researchers have made substantial progress toward defining uniquely human aspects of cognition, but considerably less effort has been devoted to questions about the evolutionary processes through which these traits have arisen. In this article, I aim to link these complementary aims by synthesizing recent advances in our understanding of what makes human cognition unique, with theory and data regarding the processes of cognitive evolution. I review evidence that uniquely human cognition depends on synergism between both representational and motivational factors and is unlikely to be accounted for by changes to any singular cognitive system. I argue that, whereas no nonhuman animal possesses the full constellation of traits that define the human mind, homologies and analogies of critical aspects of human psychology can be found in diverse nonhuman taxa. I suggest that phylogenetic approaches to the study of animal cognition-which can address questions about the selective pressures and proximate mechanisms driving cognitive change-have the potential to yield important insights regarding the processes through which the human cognitive phenotype evolved.

Bayley-III Cognitive and Language Scales in Preterm Children.

PubMed

Spencer-Smith, Megan M; Spittle, Alicia J; Lee, Katherine J; Doyle, Lex W; Anderson, Peter J

2015-05-01

This study aimed to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III), Cognitive and Language scales at 24 months for predicting cognitive impairments in preterm children at 4 years. Children born <30 weeks' gestation completed the Bayley-III at 24 months and the Differential Ability Scale, Second Edition (DAS-II), at 4 years to assess cognitive functioning. Test norms and local term-born reference data were used to classify delay on the Bayley-III Cognitive and Language scales. Impairment on the DAS-II Global Conceptual Ability, Verbal, and Nonverbal Reasoning indices was classified relative to test norms. Scores < -1 SD relative to the mean were classified as mild/moderate delay or impairment, and scores < -2 SDs were classified as moderate delay or impairment. A total of 105 children completed the Bayley-III and DAS-II. The sensitivity of mild/moderate cognitive delay on the Bayley-III for predicting impairment on DAS-II indices ranged from 29.4% to 38.5% and specificity ranged from 92.3% to 95.5%. The sensitivity of mild/moderate language delay on the Bayley-III for predicting impairment on DAS-II indices ranged from 40% to 46.7% and specificity ranged from 81.1% to 85.7%. The use of local reference data at 24 months to classify delay increased sensitivity but reduced specificity. Receiver operating curve analysis identified optimum cut-point scores for the Bayley-III that were more consistent with using local reference data than Bayley-III normative data. In our cohort of very preterm children, delay on the Bayley-III Cognitive and Language scales was not strongly predictive of future impairments. More children destined for later cognitive impairment were identified by using cut-points based on local reference data than Bayley-III norms. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Speech and language development in cognitively delayed children with cochlear implants.

PubMed

Holt, Rachael Frush; Kirk, Karen Iler

2005-04-01

The primary goals of this investigation were to examine the speech and language development of deaf children with cochlear implants and mild cognitive delay and to compare their gains with those of children with cochlear implants who do not have this additional impairment. We retrospectively examined the speech and language development of 69 children with pre-lingual deafness. The experimental group consisted of 19 children with cognitive delays and no other disabilities (mean age at implantation = 38 months). The control group consisted of 50 children who did not have cognitive delays or any other identified disability. The control group was stratified by primary communication mode: half used total communication (mean age at implantation = 32 months) and the other half used oral communication (mean age at implantation = 26 months). Children were tested on a variety of standard speech and language measures and one test of auditory skill development at 6-month intervals. The results from each test were collapsed from blocks of two consecutive 6-month intervals to calculate group mean scores before implantation and at 1-year intervals after implantation. The children with cognitive delays and those without such delays demonstrated significant improvement in their speech and language skills over time on every test administered. Children with cognitive delays had significantly lower scores than typically developing children on two of the three measures of receptive and expressive language and had significantly slower rates of auditory-only sentence recognition development. Finally, there were no significant group differences in auditory skill development based on parental reports or in auditory-only or multimodal word recognition. The results suggest that deaf children with mild cognitive impairments benefit from cochlear implantation. Specifically, improvements are evident in their ability to perceive speech and in their reception and use of language. However, it may

Toward the Language-Ready Brain: Biological Evolution and Primate Comparisons.

PubMed

Arbib, Michael A

2017-02-01

The approach to language evolution suggested here focuses on three questions: How did the human brain evolve so that humans can develop, use, and acquire languages? How can the evolutionary quest be informed by studying brain, behavior, and social interaction in monkeys, apes, and humans? How can computational modeling advance these studies? I hypothesize that the brain is language ready in that the earliest humans had protolanguages but not languages (i.e., communication systems endowed with rich and open-ended lexicons and grammars supporting a compositional semantics), and that it took cultural evolution to yield societies (a cultural constructed niche) in which language-ready brains could become language-using brains. The mirror system hypothesis is a well-developed example of this approach, but I offer it here not as a closed theory but as an evolving framework for the development and analysis of conflicting subhypotheses in the hope of their eventual integration. I also stress that computational modeling helps us understand the evolving role of mirror neurons, not in and of themselves, but only in their interaction with systems "beyond the mirror." Because a theory of evolution needs a clear characterization of what it is that evolved, I also outline ideas for research in neurolinguistics to complement studies of the evolution of the language-ready brain. A clear challenge is to go beyond models of speech comprehension to include sign language and models of production, and to link language to visuomotor interaction with the physical and social world.

Genetic and Environmental Links Between Natural Language Use and Cognitive Ability in Toddlers.

PubMed

Canfield, Caitlin F; Edelson, Lisa R; Saudino, Kimberly J

2017-03-01

Although the phenotypic correlation between language and nonverbal cognitive ability is well-documented, studies examining the etiology of the covariance between these abilities are scant, particularly in very young children. The goal of this study was to address this gap in the literature by examining the genetic and environmental links between language use, assessed through conversational language samples, and nonverbal cognition in a sample of 3-year-old twins (N = 281 pairs). Significant genetic and nonshared environmental influences were found for nonverbal cognitive ability and language measures, including mean length of utterance and number of different words, as well as significant genetic covariance between cognitive ability and both language measures. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Theorizing and Studying the Language-Teaching Mind: Mapping Research on Language Teacher Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Anne; Freeman, Donald; Edwards, Emily

2015-01-01

The overarching project of the conceptual and empirical contributions in this special issue is to redraw boundaries for language teacher cognition research. Our aim in this final article is to complement the foregoing collection of articles by conceptualizing ontologically and methodologically past and current trajectories in language teacher…

Memory and language improvements following cognitive control training.

PubMed

Hussey, Erika K; Harbison, J Isaiah; Teubner-Rhodes, Susan E; Mishler, Alan; Velnoskey, Kayla; Novick, Jared M

2017-01-01

Cognitive control refers to adjusting thoughts and actions when confronted with conflict during information processing. We tested whether this ability is causally linked to performance on certain language and memory tasks by using cognitive control training to systematically modulate people's ability to resolve information-conflict across domains. Different groups of subjects trained on 1 of 3 minimally different versions of an n-back task: n-back-with-lures (High-Conflict), n-back-without-lures (Low-Conflict), or 3-back-without-lures (3-Back). Subjects completed a battery of recognition memory and language processing tasks that comprised both high- and low-conflict conditions before and after training. We compared the transfer profiles of (a) the High- versus Low-Conflict groups to test how conflict resolution training contributes to transfer effects, and (b) the 3-Back versus Low-Conflict groups to test for differences not involving cognitive control. High-Conflict training-but not Low-Conflict training-produced discernable benefits on several untrained transfer tasks, but only under selective conditions requiring cognitive control. This suggests that the conflict-focused intervention influenced functioning on ostensibly different outcome measures across memory and language domains. 3-Back training resulted in occasional improvements on the outcome measures, but these were not selective for conditions involving conflict resolution. We conclude that domain-general cognitive control mechanisms are plastic, at least temporarily, and may play a causal role in linguistic and nonlinguistic performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

I thought we were good: social cognition, figurative language, and adolescent psychopathology.

PubMed

Im-Bolter, Nancie; Cohen, Nancy J; Farnia, Fataneh

2013-07-01

Language has been shown to play a critical role in social cognitive reasoning in preschool and school-aged children, but little research has been conducted with adolescents. During adolescence, the ability to understand figurative language becomes increasingly important for social relationships and may affect social adjustment. This study investigated the contribution of structural and figurative language to social cognitive skills in adolescents who present for mental health services and those who do not. One hundred and thirty-eight adolescents referred to mental health centers (clinic group) and 186 nonreferred adolescents (nonclinic group) aged 12-17 were administered measures of structural and figurative language, working memory, and social cognitive problem solving. We found that adolescents in the clinic group demonstrated less mature social problem solving overall, but particularly with respect to anticipating and overcoming potential obstacles and conflict resolution compared with the nonclinic group. In addition, results demonstrated that age, working memory, and structural and figurative language predicted social cognitive maturity in the clinic group, but only structural language was a predictor in the nonclinic group. Social problem solving may be particularly difficult for adolescents referred for mental health services and places higher demands on their cognitive and language skills compared with adolescents who have never been referred for mental health services. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Colloquium paper: the cognitive niche: coevolution of intelligence, sociality, and language.

PubMed

Pinker, Steven

2010-05-11

Although Darwin insisted that human intelligence could be fully explained by the theory of evolution, the codiscoverer of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace, claimed that abstract intelligence was of no use to ancestral humans and could only be explained by intelligent design. Wallace's apparent paradox can be dissolved with two hypotheses about human cognition. One is that intelligence is an adaptation to a knowledge-using, socially interdependent lifestyle, the "cognitive niche." This embraces the ability to overcome the evolutionary fixed defenses of plants and animals by applications of reasoning, including weapons, traps, coordinated driving of game, and detoxification of plants. Such reasoning exploits intuitive theories about different aspects of the world, such as objects, forces, paths, places, states, substances, and other people's beliefs and desires. The theory explains many zoologically unusual traits in Homo sapiens, including our complex toolkit, wide range of habitats and diets, extended childhoods and long lives, hypersociality, complex mating, division into cultures, and language (which multiplies the benefit of knowledge because know-how is useful not only for its practical benefits but as a trade good with others, enhancing the evolution of cooperation). The second hypothesis is that humans possess an ability of metaphorical abstraction, which allows them to coopt faculties that originally evolved for physical problem-solving and social coordination, apply them to abstract subject matter, and combine them productively. These abilities can help explain the emergence of abstract cognition without supernatural or exotic evolutionary forces and are in principle testable by analyses of statistical signs of selection in the human genome.

Memory and Language Improvements Following Cognitive Control Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussey, Erika K.; Harbison, J. Isaiah; Teubner-Rhodes, Susan E.; Mishler, Alan; Velnoskey, Kayla; Novick, Jared M.

2017-01-01

Cognitive control refers to adjusting thoughts and actions when confronted with conflict during information processing. We tested whether this ability is causally linked to performance on certain language and memory tasks by using cognitive control training to systematically modulate people's ability to resolve information-conflict across domains.…

Language and cognitive predictors of text comprehension: evidence from multivariate analysis.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Suk

2015-01-01

Using data from children in South Korea (N = 145, Mage = 6.08), it was determined how low-level language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and working memory) and high-level cognitive skills (comprehension monitoring and theory of mind [ToM]) are related to listening comprehension and whether listening comprehension and word reading mediate the relations of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension. Low-level skills predicted comprehension monitoring and ToM, which in turn predicted listening comprehension. Vocabulary and syntactic knowledge were also directly related to listening comprehension, whereas working memory was indirectly related via comprehension monitoring and ToM. Listening comprehension and word reading completely mediated the relations of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension. © 2014 The Author. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Intensity of Multilingual Language Use Predicts Cognitive Performance in Some Multilingual Older Adults

PubMed Central

Keijzer, Merel; de Bot, Kees

2018-01-01

Cognitive advantages for bilinguals have inconsistently been observed in different populations, with different operationalisations of bilingualism, cognitive performance, and the process by which language control transfers to cognitive control. This calls for studies investigating which aspects of multilingualism drive a cognitive advantage, in which populations and under which conditions. This study reports on two cognitive tasks coupled with an extensive background questionnaire on health, wellbeing, personality, language knowledge and language use, administered to 387 older adults in the northern Netherlands, a small but highly multilingual area. Using linear mixed effects regression modeling, we find that when different languages are used frequently in different contexts, enhanced attentional control is observed. Subsequently, a PLS regression model targeting also other influential factors yielded a two-component solution whereby only more sensitive measures of language proficiency and language usage in different social contexts were predictive of cognitive performance above and beyond the contribution of age, gender, income and education. We discuss these findings in light of previous studies that try to uncover more about the nature of bilingualism and the cognitive processes that may drive an advantage. With an unusually large sample size our study advocates for a move away from dichotomous, knowledge-based operationalisations of multilingualism and offers new insights for future studies at the individual level. PMID:29783764

Redrawing the Boundaries on Theory, Research, and Practice Concerning Language Teachers' Philosophies and Language Teacher Cognition: Toward a Critical Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crookes, Graham V.

2015-01-01

Two areas of investigation and professional practice--language teachers' philosophies and language teacher cognition--can be considered as related, perhaps overlapping, insofar as they are both the result of thought. The concept of a philosophy of teaching may hold together sets of language teacher cognitions, or guide specific investigations of…

Action and language integration: from humans to cognitive robots.

PubMed

Borghi, Anna M; Cangelosi, Angelo

2014-07-01

The topic is characterized by a highly interdisciplinary approach to the issue of action and language integration. Such an approach, combining computational models and cognitive robotics experiments with neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and linguistic approaches, can be a powerful means that can help researchers disentangle ambiguous issues, provide better and clearer definitions, and formulate clearer predictions on the links between action and language. In the introduction we briefly describe the papers and discuss the challenges they pose to future research. We identify four important phenomena the papers address and discuss in light of empirical and computational evidence: (a) the role played not only by sensorimotor and emotional information but also of natural language in conceptual representation; (b) the contextual dependency and high flexibility of the interaction between action, concepts, and language; (c) the involvement of the mirror neuron system in action and language processing; (d) the way in which the integration between action and language can be addressed by developmental robotics and Human-Robot Interaction. Copyright © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Number as a cognitive technology: evidence from Pirahã language and cognition.

PubMed

Frank, Michael C; Everett, Daniel L; Fedorenko, Evelina; Gibson, Edward

2008-09-01

Does speaking a language without number words change the way speakers of that language perceive exact quantities? The Pirahã are an Amazonian tribe who have been previously studied for their limited numerical system [Gordon, P. (2004). Numerical cognition without words: Evidence from Amazonia. Science 306, 496-499]. We show that the Pirahã have no linguistic method whatsoever for expressing exact quantity, not even "one." Despite this lack, when retested on the matching tasks used by Gordon, Pirahã speakers were able to perform exact matches with large numbers of objects perfectly but, as previously reported, they were inaccurate on matching tasks involving memory. These results suggest that language for exact number is a cultural invention rather than a linguistic universal, and that number words do not change our underlying representations of number but instead are a cognitive technology for keeping track of the cardinality of large sets across time, space, and changes in modality.

Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation

PubMed Central

Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language. This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences’. PMID:27872370

Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation.

PubMed

Smith, Kenny; Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

2017-01-05

Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language.This article is part of the themed issue 'New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences'. © 2016 The Authors.

The Utility of Cognitive Plausibility in Language Acquisition Modeling: Evidence From Word Segmentation.

PubMed

Phillips, Lawrence; Pearl, Lisa

2015-11-01

The informativity of a computational model of language acquisition is directly related to how closely it approximates the actual acquisition task, sometimes referred to as the model's cognitive plausibility. We suggest that though every computational model necessarily idealizes the modeled task, an informative language acquisition model can aim to be cognitively plausible in multiple ways. We discuss these cognitive plausibility checkpoints generally and then apply them to a case study in word segmentation, investigating a promising Bayesian segmentation strategy. We incorporate cognitive plausibility by using an age-appropriate unit of perceptual representation, evaluating the model output in terms of its utility, and incorporating cognitive constraints into the inference process. Our more cognitively plausible model shows a beneficial effect of cognitive constraints on segmentation performance. One interpretation of this effect is as a synergy between the naive theories of language structure that infants may have and the cognitive constraints that limit the fidelity of their inference processes, where less accurate inference approximations are better when the underlying assumptions about how words are generated are less accurate. More generally, these results highlight the utility of incorporating cognitive plausibility more fully into computational models of language acquisition. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Comparison of the recovery patterns of language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke.

PubMed

Vukovic, Mile; Vuksanovic, Jasmina; Vukovic, Irena

2008-01-01

In this study we investigated the recovery patterns of language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke. The correlation of specific language functions and cognitive functions was analyzed in the acute phase and 6 months later. Significant recovery of the tested functions was observed in both groups. However, in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits the degree of recovery of most language functions and some cognitive functions was higher. A significantly greater correlation was revealed within language and cognitive functions, as well as between language functions and other aspects of cognition in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits than in patients with aphasia following a stroke. Our results show that patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits have a different recovery pattern and a different pattern of correlation between language and cognitive functions compared to patients with aphasia following a stroke. (1) Better understanding of the differences in recovery of language and cognitive functions in patients who have suffered strokes and those who have experienced traumatic brain injury. (2) Better understanding of the relationship between language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke. (3) Better understanding of the factors influencing recovery.

Punctuated equilibrium in the large-scale evolution of programming languages.

PubMed

Valverde, Sergi; Solé, Ricard V

2015-06-06

The analogies and differences between biological and cultural evolution have been explored by evolutionary biologists, historians, engineers and linguists alike. Two well-known domains of cultural change are language and technology. Both share some traits relating the evolution of species, but technological change is very difficult to study. A major challenge in our way towards a scientific theory of technological evolution is how to properly define evolutionary trees or clades and how to weight the role played by horizontal transfer of information. Here, we study the large-scale historical development of programming languages, which have deeply marked social and technological advances in the last half century. We analyse their historical connections using network theory and reconstructed phylogenetic networks. Using both data analysis and network modelling, it is shown that their evolution is highly uneven, marked by innovation events where new languages are created out of improved combinations of different structural components belonging to previous languages. These radiation events occur in a bursty pattern and are tied to novel technological and social niches. The method can be extrapolated to other systems and consistently captures the major classes of languages and the widespread horizontal design exchanges, revealing a punctuated evolutionary path. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Language and emotions: emotional Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

PubMed

Perlovsky, Leonid

2009-01-01

An emotional version of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that differences in language emotionalities influence differences among cultures no less than conceptual differences. Conceptual contents of languages and cultures to significant extent are determined by words and their semantic differences; these could be borrowed among languages and exchanged among cultures. Emotional differences, as suggested in the paper, are related to grammar and mostly cannot be borrowed. The paper considers conceptual and emotional mechanisms of language along with their role in the mind and cultural evolution. Language evolution from primordial undifferentiated animal cries is discussed: while conceptual contents increase, emotional reduced. Neural mechanisms of these processes are suggested as well as their mathematical models: the knowledge instinct, the dual model connecting language and cognition, neural modeling fields. Mathematical results are related to cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology. Experimental evidence and theoretical arguments are discussed. Dynamics of the hierarchy-heterarchy of human minds and cultures is formulated using mean-field approach and approximate equations are obtained. The knowledge instinct operating in the mind heterarchy leads to mechanisms of differentiation and synthesis determining ontological development and cultural evolution. These mathematical models identify three types of cultures: "conceptual" pragmatic cultures in which emotionality of language is reduced and differentiation overtakes synthesis resulting in fast evolution at the price of uncertainty of values, self doubts, and internal crises; "traditional-emotional" cultures where differentiation lags behind synthesis, resulting in cultural stability at the price of stagnation; and "multi-cultural" societies combining fast cultural evolution and stability. Unsolved problems and future theoretical and experimental directions are discussed.

Exploring social structure effect on language evolution based on a computational model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Tao; Minett, James; Wang, William

2008-06-01

A compositionality-regularity coevolution model is adopted to explore the effect of social structure on language emergence and maintenance. Based on this model, we explore language evolution in three experiments, and discuss the role of a popular agent in language evolution, the relationship between mutual understanding and social hierarchy, and the effect of inter-community communications and that of simple linguistic features on convergence of communal languages in two communities. This work embodies several important interactions during social learning, and introduces a new approach that manipulates individuals' probabilities to participate in social interactions to study the effect of social structure. We hope it will stimulate further theoretical and empirical explorations on language evolution in a social environment.

The mystery of language evolution

PubMed Central

Hauser, Marc D.; Yang, Charles; Berwick, Robert C.; Tattersall, Ian; Ryan, Michael J.; Watumull, Jeffrey; Chomsky, Noam; Lewontin, Richard C.

2014-01-01

Understanding the evolution of language requires evidence regarding origins and processes that led to change. In the last 40 years, there has been an explosion of research on this problem as well as a sense that considerable progress has been made. We argue instead that the richness of ideas is accompanied by a poverty of evidence, with essentially no explanation of how and why our linguistic computations and representations evolved. We show that, to date, (1) studies of nonhuman animals provide virtually no relevant parallels to human linguistic communication, and none to the underlying biological capacity; (2) the fossil and archaeological evidence does not inform our understanding of the computations and representations of our earliest ancestors, leaving details of origins and selective pressure unresolved; (3) our understanding of the genetics of language is so impoverished that there is little hope of connecting genes to linguistic processes any time soon; (4) all modeling attempts have made unfounded assumptions, and have provided no empirical tests, thus leaving any insights into language's origins unverifiable. Based on the current state of evidence, we submit that the most fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of our linguistic capacity remain as mysterious as ever, with considerable uncertainty about the discovery of either relevant or conclusive evidence that can adjudicate among the many open hypotheses. We conclude by presenting some suggestions about possible paths forward. PMID:24847300

The mystery of language evolution.

PubMed

Hauser, Marc D; Yang, Charles; Berwick, Robert C; Tattersall, Ian; Ryan, Michael J; Watumull, Jeffrey; Chomsky, Noam; Lewontin, Richard C

2014-01-01

Understanding the evolution of language requires evidence regarding origins and processes that led to change. In the last 40 years, there has been an explosion of research on this problem as well as a sense that considerable progress has been made. We argue instead that the richness of ideas is accompanied by a poverty of evidence, with essentially no explanation of how and why our linguistic computations and representations evolved. We show that, to date, (1) studies of nonhuman animals provide virtually no relevant parallels to human linguistic communication, and none to the underlying biological capacity; (2) the fossil and archaeological evidence does not inform our understanding of the computations and representations of our earliest ancestors, leaving details of origins and selective pressure unresolved; (3) our understanding of the genetics of language is so impoverished that there is little hope of connecting genes to linguistic processes any time soon; (4) all modeling attempts have made unfounded assumptions, and have provided no empirical tests, thus leaving any insights into language's origins unverifiable. Based on the current state of evidence, we submit that the most fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of our linguistic capacity remain as mysterious as ever, with considerable uncertainty about the discovery of either relevant or conclusive evidence that can adjudicate among the many open hypotheses. We conclude by presenting some suggestions about possible paths forward.

Population Size and the Rate of Language Evolution: A Test Across Indo-European, Austronesian, and Bantu Languages

PubMed Central

Greenhill, Simon J.; Hua, Xia; Welsh, Caela F.; Schneemann, Hilde; Bromham, Lindell

2018-01-01

What role does speaker population size play in shaping rates of language evolution? There has been little consensus on the expected relationship between rates and patterns of language change and speaker population size, with some predicting faster rates of change in smaller populations, and others expecting greater change in larger populations. The growth of comparative databases has allowed population size effects to be investigated across a wide range of language groups, with mixed results. One recent study of a group of Polynesian languages revealed greater rates of word gain in larger populations and greater rates of word loss in smaller populations. However, that test was restricted to 20 closely related languages from small Oceanic islands. Here, we test if this pattern is a general feature of language evolution across a larger and more diverse sample of languages from both continental and island populations. We analyzed comparative language data for 153 pairs of closely-related sister languages from three of the world's largest language families: Austronesian, Indo-European, and Niger-Congo. We find some evidence that rates of word loss are significantly greater in smaller languages for the Indo-European comparisons, but we find no significant patterns in the other two language families. These results suggest either that the influence of population size on rates and patterns of language evolution is not universal, or that it is sufficiently weak that it may be overwhelmed by other influences in some cases. Further investigation, for a greater number of language comparisons and a wider range of language features, may determine which of these explanations holds true. PMID:29755387

What can atypical language hemispheric specialization tell us about cognitive functions?

PubMed

Cai, Qing; Van der Haegen, Lise

2015-04-01

Recent studies have made substantial progress in understanding the interactions between cognitive functions, from language to cognitive control, attention, and memory. However, dissociating these functions has been hampered by the close proximity of regions involved, as in the case in the prefrontal and parietal cortex. In this article, we review a series of studies that investigated the relationship between language and other cognitive functions in an alternative way - by examining their functional (co-)lateralization. We argue that research on the hemispheric lateralization of language and its link with handedness can offer an appropriate starting-point to shed light on the relationships between different functions. Besides functional interactions, anatomical asymmetries in non-human primates and those underlying language in humans can provide unique information about cortical organization. Finally, some open questions and criteria are raised for an ideal theoretical model of the cortex based on hemispheric specialization.

A Platform for Simulating Language Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogel, Carl; Woods, Justin

A platform for conducting experiments in the simulation of natural language evolution is presented. The system is paramaterized for independent specification of important features like: number of agents, communication attempt frequency, agent short term memory capacity, communicative urgency, etc. Representative experiments are demonstrated.

Restrictions on biological adaptation in language evolution.

PubMed

Chater, Nick; Reali, Florencia; Christiansen, Morten H

2009-01-27

Language acquisition and processing are governed by genetic constraints. A crucial unresolved question is how far these genetic constraints have coevolved with language, perhaps resulting in a highly specialized and species-specific language "module," and how much language acquisition and processing redeploy preexisting cognitive machinery. In the present work, we explored the circumstances under which genes encoding language-specific properties could have coevolved with language itself. We present a theoretical model, implemented in computer simulations, of key aspects of the interaction of genes and language. Our results show that genes for language could have coevolved only with highly stable aspects of the linguistic environment; a rapidly changing linguistic environment does not provide a stable target for natural selection. Thus, a biological endowment could not coevolve with properties of language that began as learned cultural conventions, because cultural conventions change much more rapidly than genes. We argue that this rules out the possibility that arbitrary properties of language, including abstract syntactic principles governing phrase structure, case marking, and agreement, have been built into a "language module" by natural selection. The genetic basis of human language acquisition and processing did not coevolve with language, but primarily predates the emergence of language. As suggested by Darwin, the fit between language and its underlying mechanisms arose because language has evolved to fit the human brain, rather than the reverse.

Cognitive Correlates of Language: Differential Criteria Yield Differential Results.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corrigan, Roberta

1979-01-01

Explores the hypothesis that representation, as measured by object permanence attainment, is the main prerequisite for language acquisition. Differing definitions of representation, differing assumptions about cognitive stages, and differing criteria for assessing cognitive abilities such as object permanence may account for some of the divergent…

Sex hormones affect language lateralisation but not cognitive control in normally cycling women.

PubMed

Hodgetts, Sophie; Weis, Susanne; Hausmann, Markus

2015-08-01

This article is part of a Special Issue "Estradiol and Cognition". Natural fluctuations of sex hormones during the menstrual cycle have been shown to modulate language lateralisation. Using the dichotic listening (DL) paradigm, a well-established measurement of language lateralisation, several studies revealed that the left hemispheric language dominance was stronger when levels of estradiol were high. A recent study (Hjelmervik et al., 2012) showed, however, that high levels of follicular estradiol increased lateralisation only in a condition that required participants to cognitively control (top-down) the stimulus-driven (bottom-up) response. This finding suggested that sex hormones modulate lateralisation only if cognitive control demands are high. The present study investigated language lateralisation in 73 normally cycling women under three attention conditions that differed in cognitive control demands. Saliva estradiol and progesterone levels were determined by luminescence immunoassays. Women were allocated to a high or low estradiol group. The results showed a reduced language lateralisation when estradiol and progesterone levels were high. The effect was independent of the attention condition indicating that estradiol marginally affected cognitive control. The findings might suggest that high levels of estradiol especially reduce the stimulus-driven (bottom-up) aspect of lateralisation rather than top-down cognitive control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Developing embodied cognition: insights from children’s concepts and language processing

PubMed Central

Wellsby, Michele; Pexman, Penny M.

2014-01-01

Over the past decade, theories of embodied cognition have become increasingly influential with research demonstrating that sensorimotor experiences are involved in cognitive processing; however, this embodied research has primarily focused on adult cognition. The notion that sensorimotor experience is important for acquiring conceptual knowledge is not a novel concept for developmental researchers, and yet theories of embodied cognition often do not fully integrate developmental findings. We propose that in order for an embodied cognition perspective to be refined and advanced as a lifelong theory of cognition, it is important to consider what can be learned from research with children. In this paper, we focus on development of concepts and language processing, and examine the importance of children's embodied experiences for these aspects of cognition in particular. Following this review, we outline what we see as important developmental issues that need to be addressed in order to determine the extent to which language and conceptual knowledge are embodied and to refine theories of embodied cognition. PMID:24904513

Cognitive Evolution by MMSE in Poststroke Patients

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

da Costa, Fabricia Azevedo

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive and clinical evolution of post-acute stroke patients and the evolution of each Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) item. A longitudinal study was conducted with 42 poststroke individuals in rehabilitation. The MMSE and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale were used to assess…

Cognitive pragmatics of language disorders in adults.

PubMed

Davis, G Albyn

2007-05-01

Cognitive pragmatics is the study of the mental structures and processes involved in the use of language in communicative contexts. Paradigms of cognitive psychology (off-line and on-line) have been applied to the study of the abilities to go beyond the literal (inference) and derive meaning in relation to context (e.g., metaphor and sarcasm). These pragmatic functions have been examined for the involvement of processes of meaning activation, embellishment, and revision. Clinical investigators have explored abilities and deficits in acquired aphasia, right hemisphere dysfunction, and closed head injury. This article reviews and provides some analysis of clinical studies that are consistent with the themes constituting cognitive pragmatics.

Modeling evolution of the mind and cultures: emotional Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perlovsky, Leonid I.

2009-05-01

Evolution of cultures is ultimately determined by mechanisms of the human mind. The paper discusses the mechanisms of evolution of language from primordial undifferentiated animal cries to contemporary conceptual contents. In parallel with differentiation of conceptual contents, the conceptual contents were differentiated from emotional contents of languages. The paper suggests the neural brain mechanisms involved in these processes. Experimental evidence and theoretical arguments are discussed, including mathematical approaches to cognition and language: modeling fields theory, the knowledge instinct, and the dual model connecting language and cognition. Mathematical results are related to cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology. The paper gives an initial mathematical formulation and mean-field equations for the hierarchical dynamics of both the human mind and culture. In the mind heterarchy operation of the knowledge instinct manifests through mechanisms of differentiation and synthesis. The emotional contents of language are related to language grammar. The conclusion is an emotional version of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Cultural advantages of "conceptual" pragmatic cultures, in which emotionality of language is diminished and differentiation overtakes synthesis resulting in fast evolution at the price of self doubts and internal crises are compared to those of traditional cultures where differentiation lags behind synthesis, resulting in cultural stability at the price of stagnation. Multi-language, multi-ethnic society might combine the benefits of stability and fast differentiation. Unsolved problems and future theoretical and experimental directions are discussed.

Cognition and Literacy in English Language Learners at Risk for Reading Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swanson, H. Lee; Orosco, Michael J.; Lussier, Cathy M.

2012-01-01

This study explores the cognitive basis of reading disabilities (RDs) in Spanish-speaking children who are learning English as a second language. Children (N = 393) designated as English language learners (ELLs) or bilingual with and without RDs in Grades 1, 2, and 3 were administered a battery of cognitive (short-term memory, working memory,…

Recognizing the Effects of Language Mode on the Cognitive Advantages of Bilingualism.

PubMed

Yu, Ziying; Schwieter, John W

2018-01-01

For bilinguals, it is argued that a cognitive advantage can be linked to the constant management and need for conflict resolution that occurs when the two languages are co-activated (Bialystok, 2015). Language mode (Grosjean, 1998, 2001) is a significant variable that defines and shapes the language experiences of bilinguals and consequently, the cognitive advantages of bilingualism. Previous work, however, has not sufficiently tested the effects of language mode on the bilingual experience. In this brief conceptual analysis, we discuss the significance of language mode in bilingual work on speech perception, production, and reading. We offer possible explanations for conflicting findings and ways in which future work should control for its modulating effects.

The Evolution of Teachers' Language Awareness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrews, Stephen

2006-01-01

The paper focuses on the development of teacher thinking, specifically L2 teachers' subject-matter cognitions, i.e. their Teacher Language Awareness (TLA) (see e.g. Andrews 2001, 2003). The study examines the evolving TLA, as it relates to grammar, of three teachers, each a graduate with more than 10 years' experience of teaching English in Hong…

Language, cognitive flexibility, and explicit false belief understanding: longitudinal analysis in typical development and specific language impairment.

PubMed

Farrant, Brad M; Maybery, Murray T; Fletcher, Janet

2012-01-01

The hypothesis that language plays a role in theory-of-mind (ToM) development is supported by a number of lines of evidence (e.g., H. Lohmann & M. Tomasello, 2003). The current study sought to further investigate the relations between maternal language input, memory for false sentential complements, cognitive flexibility, and the development of explicit false belief understanding in 91 English-speaking typically developing children (M age = 61.3 months) and 30 children with specific language impairment (M age = 63.0 months). Concurrent and longitudinal findings converge in supporting a model in which maternal language input predicts the child's memory for false complements, which predicts cognitive flexibility, which in turn predicts explicit false belief understanding. © 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Verbal fluency, naming and verbal comprehension: three aspects of language as predictors of cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Maseda, Ana; Lodeiro-Fernández, Leire; Lorenzo-López, Laura; Núñez-Naveira, Laura; Balo, Aránzazu; Millán-Calenti, Jose C

2014-01-01

To establish the possible relationship among three components of language (verbal fluency, naming and comprehension) and cognitive impairment as well as to determine the usefulness of language assessment tests to predict or monitor the development of cognitive impairment. A comparative, descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed on 82 subjects ≥ 65 years of age who were cognitively assessed with the Mini Mental State Examination and were divided into two groups: Group A comprised of subjects classified as levels 1, 2 and 3 on the Reisberg's Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) and group B comprised of subjects at levels 4 and 5 of the GDS. Language skills were assessed by the Verbal Fluency Test, Boston Naming Test and Token Test. An inverse relationship between performance on language tests and cognitive impairment level was observed with a more pronounced effect observed on fluency and comprehension tests. Language assessments, especially fluency and comprehension, were good indicators of cognitive impairment. The use of these assessments as predictors of the degree of cognitive impairment is discussed in-depth.

Reciprocal Influences between Maternal Language and Children's Language and Cognitive Development in Low-Income Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Lulu; Spier, Elizabeth T.; Tamis-Lemonda, Catherine S.

2014-01-01

We examined reciprocal associations between early maternal language use and children's language and cognitive development in seventy ethnically diverse, low-income families. Mother-child dyads were videotaped when children were aged 2;0 and 3;0. Video transcripts were analyzed for quantity and lexical diversity of maternal and child language.…

Can language acquisition be facilitated in cochlear implanted children? Comparison of cognitive and behavioral psychologists' viewpoints.

PubMed

Monshizadeh, Leila; Vameghi, Roshanak; Yadegari, Fariba; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Hashemi, Seyed Basir

2016-11-08

To study how language acquisition can be facilitated for cochlear implanted children based on cognitive and behavioral psychology viewpoints? To accomplish this objective, literature related to behaviorist and cognitive psychology prospects about language acquisition were studied and some relevant books as well as Medline, Cochrane Library, Google scholar, ISI web of knowledge and Scopus databases were searched. Among 25 articles that were selected, only 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Based on the inclusion criteria, review articles, expert opinion studies, non-experimental and experimental studies that clearly focused on behavioral and cognitive factors affecting language acquisition in children were selected. Finally, the selected articles were appraised according to guidelines of appraisal of medical studies. Due to the importance of the cochlear implanted child's language performance, the comparison of behaviorist and cognitive psychology points of view in child language acquisition was done. Since each theoretical basis, has its own positive effects on language, and since the two are not in opposition to one another, it can be said that a set of behavioral and cognitive factors might facilitate the process of language acquisition in children. Behavioral psychologists believe that repetition, as well as immediate reinforcement of child's language behavior help him easily acquire the language during a language intervention program, while cognitive psychologists emphasize on the relationship between information processing, memory improvement through repetitively using words along with "associated" pictures and objects, motor development and language acquisition. It is recommended to use a combined approach based on both theoretical frameworks while planning a language intervention program.

Early life instruction in foreign language and music and incidence of mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Wilson, Robert S; Boyle, Patricia A; Yang, Jingyun; James, Bryan D; Bennett, David A

2015-03-01

To test the hypothesis that foreign language and music instruction in early life are associated with lower incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and slower rate of cognitive decline in old age. At enrollment in a longitudinal cohort study, 964 older persons without cognitive impairment estimated years of foreign language and music instruction by age 18. Annually thereafter they completed clinical evaluations that included cognitive testing and clinical classification of MCI. There were 264 persons with no foreign language instruction, 576 with 1-4 years, and 124 with > 4 years; 346 persons with no music instruction, 360 with 1-4 years, and 258 with > 4 years. During a mean of 5.8 years of observation, 396 participants (41.1%) developed MCI. In a proportional hazards model adjusted for age, sex, and education, higher levels (> 4 years) of foreign language (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.687, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.482, 0.961]) and music (HR = 0.708, 95% CI [0.539, 0.930]) instruction by the age of 18 were each associated with reduced risk of MCI. The association persisted after adjustment for other early life indicators of an enriched cognitive environment, and it was stronger for nonamnestic than amnestic MCI. Both foreign language and music instruction were associated with higher initial level of cognitive function, but neither instruction measure was associated with cognitive decline. Higher levels of foreign language and music instruction during childhood and adolescence are associated in old age with lower risk of developing MCI but not with rate of cognitive decline. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Slip of the tongue: Implications for evolution and language development.

PubMed

Forrester, Gillian S; Rodriguez, Alina

2015-08-01

A prevailing theory regarding the evolution of language implicates a gestural stage prior to the emergence of speech. In support of a transition of human language from a gestural to a vocal system, articulation of the hands and the tongue are underpinned by overlapping left hemisphere dominant neural regions. Behavioral studies demonstrate that human adults perform sympathetic mouth actions in imitative synchrony with manual actions. Additionally, right-handedness for precision manual actions in children has been correlated with the typical development of language, while a lack of hand bias has been associated with psychopathology. It therefore stands to reason that sympathetic mouth actions during fine precision motor action of the hands may be lateralized. We employed a fine-grained behavioral coding paradigm to provide the first investigation of tongue protrusions in typically developing 4-year old children. Tongue protrusions were investigated across a range of cognitive tasks that required varying degrees of manual action: precision motor action, gross motor action and no motor actions. The rate of tongue protrusions was influenced by the motor requirements of the task and tongue protrusions were significantly right-biased for only precision manual motor action (p<.001). From an evolutionary perspective, tongue protrusions can drive new investigations regarding how an early human communication system transitioned from hand to mouth. From a developmental perspective, the present study may serve to reveal patterns of tongue protrusions during the motor development of typically developing children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Bird’s Eye View of Human Language Evolution

PubMed Central

Berwick, Robert C.; Beckers, Gabriël J. L.; Okanoya, Kazuo; Bolhuis, Johan J.

2012-01-01

Comparative studies of linguistic faculties in animals pose an evolutionary paradox: language involves certain perceptual and motor abilities, but it is not clear that this serves as more than an input–output channel for the externalization of language proper. Strikingly, the capability for auditory–vocal learning is not shared with our closest relatives, the apes, but is present in such remotely related groups as songbirds and marine mammals. There is increasing evidence for behavioral, neural, and genetic similarities between speech acquisition and birdsong learning. At the same time, researchers have applied formal linguistic analysis to the vocalizations of both primates and songbirds. What have all these studies taught us about the evolution of language? Is the comparative study of an apparently species-specific trait like language feasible? We argue that comparative analysis remains an important method for the evolutionary reconstruction and causal analysis of the mechanisms underlying language. On the one hand, common descent has been important in the evolution of the brain, such that avian and mammalian brains may be largely homologous, particularly in the case of brain regions involved in auditory perception, vocalization, and auditory memory. On the other hand, there has been convergent evolution of the capacity for auditory–vocal learning, and possibly for structuring of external vocalizations, such that apes lack the abilities that are shared between songbirds and humans. However, significant limitations to this comparative analysis remain. While all birdsong may be classified in terms of a particularly simple kind of concatenation system, the regular languages, there is no compelling evidence to date that birdsong matches the characteristic syntactic complexity of human language, arising from the composition of smaller forms like words and phrases into larger ones. PMID:22518103

Learning a Foreign Language: A New Path to Enhancement of Cognitive Functions.

PubMed

Shoghi Javan, Sara; Ghonsooly, Behzad

2018-02-01

The complicated cognitive processes involved in natural (primary) bilingualism lead to significant cognitive development. Executive functions as a fundamental component of human cognition are deemed to be affected by language learning. To date, a large number of studies have investigated how natural (primary) bilingualism influences executive functions; however, the way acquired (secondary) bilingualism manipulates executive functions is poorly understood. To fill this gap, controlling for age, gender, IQ, and socio-economic status, the researchers compared 60 advanced learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to 60 beginners on measures of executive functions involving Stroop, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and Wechsler's digit span tasks. The results suggested that mastering English as a foreign language causes considerable enhancement in two components of executive functions, namely cognitive flexibility and working memory. However, no significant difference was observed in inhibitory control between the advanced EFL learners and beginners.

Good-enough linguistic representations and online cognitive equilibrium in language processing.

PubMed

Karimi, Hossein; Ferreira, Fernanda

2016-01-01

We review previous research showing that representations formed during language processing are sometimes just "good enough" for the task at hand and propose the "online cognitive equilibrium" hypothesis as the driving force behind the formation of good-enough representations in language processing. Based on this view, we assume that the language comprehension system by default prefers to achieve as early as possible and remain as long as possible in a state of cognitive equilibrium where linguistic representations are successfully incorporated with existing knowledge structures (i.e., schemata) so that a meaningful and coherent overall representation is formed, and uncertainty is resolved or at least minimized. We also argue that the online equilibrium hypothesis is consistent with current theories of language processing, which maintain that linguistic representations are formed through a complex interplay between simple heuristics and deep syntactic algorithms and also theories that hold that linguistic representations are often incomplete and lacking in detail. We also propose a model of language processing that makes use of both heuristic and algorithmic processing, is sensitive to online cognitive equilibrium, and, we argue, is capable of explaining the formation of underspecified representations. We review previous findings providing evidence for underspecification in relation to this hypothesis and the associated language processing model and argue that most of these findings are compatible with them.

Social Cognition and Externalizing Psychopathology: An Investigation of the Mediating Role of Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zadeh, Zohreh Yaghoub; Im-Bolter, Nancie; Cohen, Nancy J.

2007-01-01

The present study integrates findings from three lines of research on the association of social cognition and externalizing psychopathology, language and externalizing psychopathology, and social cognition and language functioning using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). To date these associations have been examined in pairs. A sample of 354…

Spatial language facilitates spatial cognition: Evidence from children who lack language input

PubMed Central

Gentner, Dedre; Özyürek, Asli; Gürcanli, Özge; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2013-01-01

Does spatial language influence how people think about space? To address this question, we observed children who did not know a conventional language, and tested their performance on nonlinguistic spatial tasks. We studied deaf children living in Istanbul whose hearing losses prevented them from acquiring speech and whose hearing parents had not exposed them to sign. Lacking a conventional language, the children used gestures, called homesigns, to communicate. In Study 1, we asked whether homesigners used gesture to convey spatial relations, and found that they did not. In Study 2, we tested a new group of homesigners on a spatial mapping task, and found that they performed significantly worse than hearing Turkish children who were matched to the deaf children on another cognitive task. The absence of spatial language thus went hand-in-hand with poor performance on the nonlinguistic spatial task, pointing to the importance of spatial language in thinking about space. PMID:23542409

Do cognitive, language, or physical impairments affect participation in a trial of self-management programs for stroke?

PubMed

Cadilhac, Dominique A; Kilkenny, Monique F; Srikanth, Velandai; Lindley, Richard I; Lalor, Erin; Osborne, Richard H; Batterbsy, Malcolm

2016-01-01

Research studies may have limited generalizability when survivors of stroke with physical, language, or cognitive impairments are excluded. To assess whether presence of cognitive, language, or global impairments affects participation in self-management programs. Stroke survivors were recruited in South Australia from seven hospitals or via advertisements into a randomized controlled trial (1:1:1 ratio) of a Stroke Self-Management Program, the Stanford chronic condition self-management program, or standard care. Impairment status was measured using: Cognistat (cognition), Frenchay Aphasia assessment (language), modified Rankin Score (mRS; where score 3-5 = global disability). participation (i.e. booked, accessed, and completed a program (defined as attending ≥ 50% of sessions)) and safety (i.e. adverse events). Outcomes were compared by impairment status. Among 315 people screened 143/149 eligible were randomized (median age 71 years; 41% male; with impairments: 62% cognitive, 34% language, 64% global disability). Participation did not differ by cognitive or language impairment status (cognitive 75%, no cognitive 68%, p = 0.54; language 78%, no language 69%, p = 0.42). However, participation did vary by global impairment status (global disability 61%, no disability 96%, p < 0.001). Participants with cognitive impairment experienced more adverse events (severe n = 9 versus no cognitive impairment n = 1). Survivors of stroke with cognitive, language, or global impairments are able to participate in self-management programs and should be included in these types of research studies or programs. Reduced participation by those with global disability and the possibility of more adverse events in people with cognitive impairments needs to be considered. © 2016 World Stroke Organization.

Can language acquisition be facilitated in cochlear implanted children? Comparison of cognitive and behavioral psychologists’ viewpoints

PubMed Central

Monshizadeh, Leila; Vameghi, Roshanak; Yadegari, Fariba; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Hashemi, Seyed Basir

2016-01-01

AIM To study how language acquisition can be facilitated for cochlear implanted children based on cognitive and behavioral psychology viewpoints? METHODS To accomplish this objective, literature related to behaviorist and cognitive psychology prospects about language acquisition were studied and some relevant books as well as Medline, Cochrane Library, Google scholar, ISI web of knowledge and Scopus databases were searched. Among 25 articles that were selected, only 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Based on the inclusion criteria, review articles, expert opinion studies, non-experimental and experimental studies that clearly focused on behavioral and cognitive factors affecting language acquisition in children were selected. Finally, the selected articles were appraised according to guidelines of appraisal of medical studies. RESULTS Due to the importance of the cochlear implanted child’s language performance, the comparison of behaviorist and cognitive psychology points of view in child language acquisition was done. Since each theoretical basis, has its own positive effects on language, and since the two are not in opposition to one another, it can be said that a set of behavioral and cognitive factors might facilitate the process of language acquisition in children. Behavioral psychologists believe that repetition, as well as immediate reinforcement of child’s language behavior help him easily acquire the language during a language intervention program, while cognitive psychologists emphasize on the relationship between information processing, memory improvement through repetitively using words along with “associated” pictures and objects, motor development and language acquisition. CONCLUSION It is recommended to use a combined approach based on both theoretical frameworks while planning a language intervention program. PMID:27872829

Iconicity and the Emergence of Combinatorial Structure in Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verhoef, Tessa; Kirby, Simon; de Boer, Bart

2016-01-01

In language, recombination of a discrete set of meaningless building blocks forms an unlimited set of possible utterances. How such combinatorial structure emerged in the evolution of human language is increasingly being studied. It has been shown that it can emerge when languages culturally evolve and adapt to human cognitive biases. How the…

Language Mediated Concept Activation in Bilingual Memory Facilitates Cognitive Flexibility

PubMed Central

Kharkhurin, Anatoliy V.

2017-01-01

This is the first attempt of empirical investigation of language mediated concept activation (LMCA) in bilingual memory as a cognitive mechanism facilitating divergent thinking. Russian–English bilingual and Russian monolingual college students were tested on a battery of tests including among others Abbreviated Torrance Tests for Adults assessing divergent thinking traits and translingual priming (TLP) test assessing the LMCA. The latter was designed as a lexical decision priming test, in which a prime and a target were not related in Russian (language of testing), but were related through their translation equivalents in English (spoken only by bilinguals). Bilinguals outperformed their monolingual counterparts on divergent thinking trait of cognitive flexibility, and bilinguals’ performance on this trait could be explained by their TLP effect. Age of second language acquisition and proficiency in this language were found to relate to the TLP effect, and therefore were proposed to influence the directionality and strength of connections in bilingual memory. PMID:28701981

Three-Dimensional Constraints on Human Cognition as Expressed in Human Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adam, Christopher C.

2015-01-01

Those advocating the existence of a distinct language instinct generally claim that human language is not reliant on general human cognition. However, limitations on recursive patterns in human language are universally attested, from the micro-level elements of phonology, throughout the mid-level elements of morphology and syntax, and up to the…

The ideomotor recycling theory for tool use, language, and foresight.

PubMed

Badets, Arnaud; Osiurak, François

2017-02-01

The present theoretical framework highlights a common action-perception mechanism for tool use, spoken language, and foresight capacity. On the one hand, it has been suggested that human language and the capacity to envision the future (i.e. foresight) have, from an evolutionary viewpoint, developed mutually along with the pressure of tool use. This co-evolution has afforded humans an evident survival advantage in the animal kingdom because language can help to refine the representation of future scenarios, which in turn can help to encourage or discourage engagement in appropriate and efficient behaviours. On the other hand, recent assumptions regarding the evolution of the brain have capitalized on the concept of "neuronal recycling". In the domain of cognitive neuroscience, neuronal recycling means that during evolution, some neuronal areas and cognitive functions have been recycled to manage new environmental and social constraints. In the present article, we propose that the co-evolution of tool use, language, and foresight represents a suitable example of such functional recycling throughout a well-defined common action-perception mechanism, i.e. the ideomotor mechanism. This ideomotor account is discussed in light of different future ontogenetic and phylogenetic perspectives.

Musical emotions: Functions, origins, evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perlovsky, Leonid

2010-03-01

Theories of music origins and the role of musical emotions in the mind are reviewed. Most existing theories contradict each other, and cannot explain mechanisms or roles of musical emotions in workings of the mind, nor evolutionary reasons for music origins. Music seems to be an enigma. Nevertheless, a synthesis of cognitive science and mathematical models of the mind has been proposed describing a fundamental role of music in the functioning and evolution of the mind, consciousness, and cultures. The review considers ancient theories of music as well as contemporary theories advanced by leading authors in this field. It addresses one hypothesis that promises to unify the field and proposes a theory of musical origin based on a fundamental role of music in cognition and evolution of consciousness and culture. We consider a split in the vocalizations of proto-humans into two types: one less emotional and more concretely-semantic, evolving into language, and the other preserving emotional connections along with semantic ambiguity, evolving into music. The proposed hypothesis departs from other theories in considering specific mechanisms of the mind-brain, which required the evolution of music parallel with the evolution of cultures and languages. Arguments are reviewed that the evolution of language toward becoming the semantically powerful tool of today required emancipation from emotional encumbrances. The opposite, no less powerful mechanisms required a compensatory evolution of music toward more differentiated and refined emotionality. The need for refined music in the process of cultural evolution is grounded in fundamental mechanisms of the mind. This is why today's human mind and cultures cannot exist without today's music. The reviewed hypothesis gives a basis for future analysis of why different evolutionary paths of languages were paralleled by different evolutionary paths of music. Approaches toward experimental verification of this hypothesis in

Integrating Language and Cognition in Grounded Adaptive Agents

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-21

a gents w ill b e able t o communicate amo ng th emselves a nd w ith humans w ith the fl exibility and complexity of h uman language. Leonid...Cangelosi A., Hourdakis E . & Tikhanoff V. (2006). Language acquisition and symbol grounding transfer with neural networks and cognitive robots...Hence it is natural to define the following partial similarity measure between object i and concept k ieO ( ) ( )[∏ = − −−= d e keiekeke OSkil 1

The language capacity: architecture and evolution.

PubMed

Chomsky, Noam

2017-02-01

There is substantial evidence that the human language capacity (LC) is a species-specific biological property, essentially unique to humans, invariant among human groups, and dissociated from other cognitive systems. Each language, an instantiation of LC, consists of a generative procedure that yields a discrete infinity of hierarchically structured expressions with semantic interpretations, hence a kind of "language of thought" (LOT), along with an operation of externalization (EXT) to some sensory-motor system, typically sound. There is mounting evidence that generation of LOT observes language-independent principles of computational efficiency and is based on the simplest computational operations, and that EXT is an ancillary process not entering into the core semantic properties of LOT and is the primary locus of the apparent complexity, diversity, and mutability of language. These conclusions are not surprising, since the internal system is acquired virtually without evidence in fundamental respects, and EXT relates it to sensory-motor systems that are unrelated to it. Even such properties as the linear order of words appear to be reflexes of the sensory motor system, not available to generation of LOT. The limited evidence from the evolutionary record lends support to these conclusions, suggesting that LC emerged with Homo sapiens or not long after, and has not evolved since human groups dispersed.

Experimental evolution of slowed cognitive aging in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Zwoinska, Martyna K; Maklakov, Alexei A; Kawecki, Tadeusz J; Hollis, Brian

2017-03-01

Reproductive output and cognitive performance decline in parallel during aging, but it is unknown whether this reflects a shared genetic architecture or merely the declining force of natural selection acting independently on both traits. We used experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster to test for the presence of genetic variation for slowed cognitive aging, and assess its independence from that responsible for other traits' decline with age. Replicate experimental populations experienced either joint selection on learning and reproduction at old age (Old + Learning), selection on late-life reproduction alone (Old), or a standard two-week culture regime (Young). Within 20 generations, the Old + Learning populations evolved a slower decline in learning with age than both the Old and Young populations, revealing genetic variation for cognitive aging. We found little evidence for a genetic correlation between cognitive and demographic aging: although the Old + Learning populations tended to show higher late-life fecundity than Old populations, they did not live longer. Likewise, selection for late reproduction alone did not result in improved late-life learning. Our results demonstrate that Drosophila harbor genetic variation for cognitive aging that is largely independent from genetic variation for demographic aging and suggest that these two aspects of aging may not necessarily follow the same trajectories. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Genetic biasing through cultural transmission: do simple Bayesian models of language evolution generalize?

PubMed

Dediu, Dan

2009-08-07

The recent Bayesian approaches to language evolution and change seem to suggest that genetic biases can impact on the characteristics of language, but, at the same time, that its cultural transmission can partially free it from these same genetic constraints. One of the current debates centres on the striking differences between sampling and a posteriori maximising Bayesian learners, with the first converging on the prior bias while the latter allows a certain freedom to language evolution. The present paper shows that this difference disappears if populations more complex than a single teacher and a single learner are considered, with the resulting behaviours more similar to the sampler. This suggests that generalisations based on the language produced by Bayesian agents in such homogeneous single agent chains are not warranted. It is not clear which of the assumptions in such models are responsible, but these findings seem to support the rising concerns on the validity of the "acquisitionist" assumption, whereby the locus of language change and evolution is taken to be the first language acquirers (children) as opposed to the competent language users (the adults).

"Cognitive Diagnosis and Q-Matrices in Language Assessment": A Commentary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alderson, J. Charles

2010-01-01

This commentary appraises the 2009 special issue of "Language Assessment Quarterly" on "Cognitive Diagnosis and Q-matrices in Language Assessment." Despite a number of weaknesses, specifically in attempting inappropriately to retrofit a suite of proficiency tests to diagnostic purposes, the special issue is seen as a landmark in the development of…

Cognitive ornithology: the evolution of avian intelligence

PubMed Central

Emery, Nathan J

2005-01-01

Comparative psychologists interested in the evolution of intelligence have focused their attention on social primates, whereas birds tend to be used as models of associative learning. However, corvids and parrots, which have forebrains relatively the same size as apes, live in complex social groups and have a long developmental period before becoming independent, have demonstrated ape-like intelligence. Although, ornithologists have documented thousands of hours observing birds in their natural habitat, they have focused their attention on avian behaviour and ecology, rather than intelligence. This review discusses recent studies of avian cognition contrasting two different approaches; the anthropocentric approach and the adaptive specialization approach. It is argued that the most productive method is to combine the two approaches. This is discussed with respects to recent investigations of two supposedly unique aspects of human cognition; episodic memory and theory of mind. In reviewing the evidence for avian intelligence, corvids and parrots appear to be cognitively superior to other birds and in many cases even apes. This suggests that complex cognition has evolved in species with very different brains through a process of convergent evolution rather than shared ancestry, although the notion that birds and mammals may share common neural connectivity patterns is discussed. PMID:16553307

The language-ready head: Evolutionary considerations.

PubMed

Boeckx, Cedric

2017-02-01

This article offers a succinct overview of the hypothesis that the evolution of cognition could benefit from a close examination of brain changes reflected in the shape of the neurocranium. I provide both neurological and genetic evidence in support of this hypothesis, and conclude that the study of language evolution need not be regarded as a mystery.

The evolution of the language faculty: clarifications and implications.

PubMed

Fitch, W Tecumseh; Hauser, Marc D; Chomsky, Noam

2005-09-01

In this response to Pinker and Jackendoff's critique, we extend our previous framework for discussion of language evolution, clarifying certain distinctions and elaborating on a number of points. In the first half of the paper, we reiterate that profitable research into the biology and evolution of language requires fractionation of "language" into component mechanisms and interfaces, a non-trivial endeavor whose results are unlikely to map onto traditional disciplinary boundaries. Our terminological distinction between FLN and FLB is intended to help clarify misunderstandings and aid interdisciplinary rapprochement. By blurring this distinction, Pinker and Jackendoff mischaracterize our hypothesis 3 which concerns only FLN, not "language" as a whole. Many of their arguments and examples are thus irrelevant to this hypothesis. Their critique of the minimalist program is for the most part equally irrelevant, because very few of the arguments in our original paper were tied to this program; in an online appendix we detail the deep inaccuracies in their characterization of this program. Concerning evolution, we believe that Pinker and Jackendoff's emphasis on the past adaptive history of the language faculty is misplaced. Such questions are unlikely to be resolved empirically due to a lack of relevant data, and invite speculation rather than research. Preoccupation with the issue has retarded progress in the field by diverting research away from empirical questions, many of which can be addressed with comparative data. Moreover, offering an adaptive hypothesis as an alternative to our hypothesis concerning mechanisms is a logical error, as questions of function are independent of those concerning mechanism. The second half of our paper consists of a detailed response to the specific data discussed by Pinker and Jackendoff. Although many of their examples are irrelevant to our original paper and arguments, we find several areas of substantive disagreement that could be

Triadic (ecological, neural, cognitive) niche construction: a scenario of human brain evolution extrapolating tool use and language from the control of reaching actions

PubMed Central

Iriki, Atsushi; Taoka, Miki

2012-01-01

Hominin evolution has involved a continuous process of addition of new kinds of cognitive capacity, including those relating to manufacture and use of tools and to the establishment of linguistic faculties. The dramatic expansion of the brain that accompanied additions of new functional areas would have supported such continuous evolution. Extended brain functions would have driven rapid and drastic changes in the hominin ecological niche, which in turn demanded further brain resources to adapt to it. In this way, humans have constructed a novel niche in each of the ecological, cognitive and neural domains, whose interactions accelerated their individual evolution through a process of triadic niche construction. Human higher cognitive activity can therefore be viewed holistically as one component in a terrestrial ecosystem. The brain's functional characteristics seem to play a key role in this triadic interaction. We advance a speculative argument about the origins of its neurobiological mechanisms, as an extension (with wider scope) of the evolutionary principles of adaptive function in the animal nervous system. The brain mechanisms that subserve tool use may bridge the gap between gesture and language—the site of such integration seems to be the parietal and extending opercular cortices. PMID:22106423

Association between Primary Caregiver Education and Cognitive and Language Development of Preterm Neonates.

PubMed

Asztalos, Elizabeth V; Church, Paige T; Riley, Patricia; Fajardo, Carlos; Shah, Prakesh S

2017-03-01

Objective  This study aims to explore the association between primary caregiver education and cognitive and language composite scores of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd ed. (Bayley-III) in preterm infants at 18 to 21 months corrected age. Design  An observational study was performed on preterm infants born before 29 weeks' gestation between 2010 and 2011. Primary caregivers were categorized by their highest education level and cognitive and language composite scores of the Bayley-III were compared among infants between these groups with adjustment for perinatal and neonatal factors. Results  In total, 1,525 infants/caregivers were included in the multivariate analysis. Compared with those with less than a high school education, infants with primary caregivers who received partial college/specialized training displayed higher cognitive (adjusted difference [AD]: 4.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8-7.4) and language scores (AD: 4.0, 95% CI: 0.8-7.1); infants with primary caregivers with university graduate education or above also demonstrated higher cognitive (AD: 6.4, 95% CI: 2.6-10.1) and language scores (AD: 9.9, 95% CI: 5.7-14.1). Conclusion  Higher levels of education of the primary caregiver were associated with increased cognitive and language composite scores at 18 to 21 months corrected age in preterm infants. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Decreasing Cognitive Load for Learners: Strategy of Web-Based Foreign Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Jianfeng

2013-01-01

Cognitive load is one of the important factors that influence the effectiveness and efficiency of web-based foreign language learning. Cognitive load theory assumes that human's cognitive capacity in working memory is limited and if it overloads, learning will be hampered, so that high level of cognitive load can affect the performance of learning…

On the nature and evolution of the neural bases of human language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lieberman, Philip

2002-01-01

the brains of human beings and other species provides insight into the evolution of the brain bases of human language. The neural substrate that regulated motor control in the common ancestor of apes and humans most likely was modified to enhance cognitive and linguistic ability. Speech communication played a central role in this process. However, the process that ultimately resulted in the human brain may have started when our earliest hominid ancestors began to walk.

Rethinking foundations of language from a multidisciplinary perspective.

PubMed

Gong, Tao; Shuai, Lan; Wu, Yicheng

2018-04-21

The issue of language foundations has been of great controversy ever since it was first raised in Lenneberg's (1967) monograph Biological Foundations of Language. Based on a survey of recent findings relevant to the study of language acquisition and evolution, we propose that: (i) the biological predispositions for language are largely domain-general, not necessarily language-specific or human-unique; (ii) the socio-cultural environment of language serves as another important foundation of language, which helps shape language components, induce and drive language shift; and (iii) language must have coevolved with the cognitive mechanisms associated with it through intertwined biological and cultural evolution. In addition to theoretical issues, this paper also evaluates the primary approaches recently joining the endeavor of studying language foundations and evolution, including human experiments and computer simulations. Most of the evidence surveyed in this paper comes from a variety of disciplines, and methodology therein complements each other to form a global picture of language foundations. These reflect the complexity of the issue of language foundations and the necessity of taking a multidisciplinary perspective to address it. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

LANGUAGE AND COGNITION IN THE YOUNG CHILD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ANISFELD, MOSHE

THE LITERATURE ON INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT APPEARS TO ATTRIBUTE TO THE YOUNG CHILD A HIGH LEVEL OF LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT AND A RELATIVELY LOW LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT IN OTHER COGNITIVE SPHERES. IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THIS DISCREPANCY, THE AUTHOR ADVANCED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE DESCRIPTIONS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ARE BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF THE…

Overlapping Networks Engaged during Spoken Language Production and Its Cognitive Control

PubMed Central

Wise, Richard J.S.; Mehta, Amrish; Leech, Robert

2014-01-01

Spoken language production is a complex brain function that relies on large-scale networks. These include domain-specific networks that mediate language-specific processes, as well as domain-general networks mediating top-down and bottom-up attentional control. Language control is thought to involve a left-lateralized fronto-temporal-parietal (FTP) system. However, these regions do not always activate for language tasks and similar regions have been implicated in nonlinguistic cognitive processes. These inconsistent findings suggest that either the left FTP is involved in multidomain cognitive control or that there are multiple spatially overlapping FTP systems. We present evidence from an fMRI study using multivariate analysis to identify spatiotemporal networks involved in spoken language production in humans. We compared spoken language production (Speech) with multiple baselines, counting (Count), nonverbal decision (Decision), and “rest,” to pull apart the multiple partially overlapping networks that are involved in speech production. A left-lateralized FTP network was activated during Speech and deactivated during Count and nonverbal Decision trials, implicating it in cognitive control specific to sentential spoken language production. A mirror right-lateralized FTP network was activated in the Count and Decision trials, but not Speech. Importantly, a second overlapping left FTP network showed relative deactivation in Speech. These three networks, with distinct time courses, overlapped in the left parietal lobe. Contrary to the standard model of the left FTP as being dominant for speech, we revealed a more complex pattern within the left FTP, including at least two left FTP networks with competing functional roles, only one of which was activated in speech production. PMID:24966373

Overlapping networks engaged during spoken language production and its cognitive control.

PubMed

Geranmayeh, Fatemeh; Wise, Richard J S; Mehta, Amrish; Leech, Robert

2014-06-25

Spoken language production is a complex brain function that relies on large-scale networks. These include domain-specific networks that mediate language-specific processes, as well as domain-general networks mediating top-down and bottom-up attentional control. Language control is thought to involve a left-lateralized fronto-temporal-parietal (FTP) system. However, these regions do not always activate for language tasks and similar regions have been implicated in nonlinguistic cognitive processes. These inconsistent findings suggest that either the left FTP is involved in multidomain cognitive control or that there are multiple spatially overlapping FTP systems. We present evidence from an fMRI study using multivariate analysis to identify spatiotemporal networks involved in spoken language production in humans. We compared spoken language production (Speech) with multiple baselines, counting (Count), nonverbal decision (Decision), and "rest," to pull apart the multiple partially overlapping networks that are involved in speech production. A left-lateralized FTP network was activated during Speech and deactivated during Count and nonverbal Decision trials, implicating it in cognitive control specific to sentential spoken language production. A mirror right-lateralized FTP network was activated in the Count and Decision trials, but not Speech. Importantly, a second overlapping left FTP network showed relative deactivation in Speech. These three networks, with distinct time courses, overlapped in the left parietal lobe. Contrary to the standard model of the left FTP as being dominant for speech, we revealed a more complex pattern within the left FTP, including at least two left FTP networks with competing functional roles, only one of which was activated in speech production. Copyright © 2014 Geranmayeh et al.

Learning a Foreign Language: A New Path to Enhancement of Cognitive Functions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shoghi Javan, Sara; Ghonsooly, Behzad

2018-01-01

The complicated cognitive processes involved in natural (primary) bilingualism lead to significant cognitive development. Executive functions as a fundamental component of human cognition are deemed to be affected by language learning. To date, a large number of studies have investigated how natural (primary) bilingualism influences executive…

Codeswitching in the Language Classroom: A Study of Four EFL Teachers' Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samar, Reza Ghafar; Moradkhani, Shahab

2014-01-01

Although many language teachers resort to their first language (L1) at various junctures during their practice, not many studies have tried to understand the reasons for this from teachers' personal perspectives. This study aimed at investigating English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' cognitive processes during their classroom…

Innateness and culture in the evolution of language

PubMed Central

Kirby, Simon; Dowman, Mike; Griffiths, Thomas L.

2007-01-01

Human language arises from biological evolution, individual learning, and cultural transmission, but the interaction of these three processes has not been widely studied. We set out a formal framework for analyzing cultural transmission, which allows us to investigate how innate learning biases are related to universal properties of language. We show that cultural transmission can magnify weak biases into strong linguistic universals, undermining one of the arguments for strong innate constraints on language learning. As a consequence, the strength of innate biases can be shielded from natural selection, allowing these genes to drift. Furthermore, even when there is no natural selection, cultural transmission can produce apparent adaptations. Cultural transmission thus provides an alternative to traditional nativist and adaptationist explanations for the properties of human languages. PMID:17360393

The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution

PubMed Central

Imai, Mutsumi; Kita, Sotaro

2014-01-01

Sound symbolism is a non-arbitrary relationship between speech sounds and meaning. We review evidence that, contrary to the traditional view in linguistics, sound symbolism is an important design feature of language, which affects online processing of language, and most importantly, language acquisition. We propose the sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis, claiming that (i) pre-verbal infants are sensitive to sound symbolism, due to a biologically endowed ability to map and integrate multi-modal input, (ii) sound symbolism helps infants gain referential insight for speech sounds, (iii) sound symbolism helps infants and toddlers associate speech sounds with their referents to establish a lexical representation and (iv) sound symbolism helps toddlers learn words by allowing them to focus on referents embedded in a complex scene, alleviating Quine's problem. We further explore the possibility that sound symbolism is deeply related to language evolution, drawing the parallel between historical development of language across generations and ontogenetic development within individuals. Finally, we suggest that sound symbolism bootstrapping is a part of a more general phenomenon of bootstrapping by means of iconic representations, drawing on similarities and close behavioural links between sound symbolism and speech-accompanying iconic gesture. PMID:25092666

Cognitive and Linguistic Predictors of Basic Arithmetic Skills: Evidence from First-Language and Second-Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleemans, Tijs; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

2014-01-01

The present study investigated the role of both cognitive and linguistic predictors in basic arithmetic skills (i.e., addition and subtraction) in 69 first-language (L1) learners and 60 second-language (L2) learners from the second grade of primary schools in the Netherlands. All children were tested on non-verbal intelligence, working memory,…

Evolution of Cognitive Function After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

PubMed

Schoenenberger, Andreas W; Zuber, Chantal; Moser, André; Zwahlen, Marcel; Wenaweser, Peter; Windecker, Stephan; Carrel, Thierry; Stuck, Andreas E; Stortecky, Stefan

2016-10-01

This study aimed to assess the evolution of cognitive function after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Previous smaller studies reported conflicting results on the evolution of cognitive function after TAVI. In this prospective cohort, cognitive function was measured in 229 patients ≥70 years using the Mini Mental State Examination before and 6 months after TAVI. Cognitive deterioration or improvement was defined as change of ≥3 points decrease or increase in the Mini Mental State Examination score between baseline and follow-up. Cognitive deterioration was found in 29 patients (12.7%). Predictive analysis using logistic regression did not identify any statistically significant predictor of cognitive deterioration. A review of individual medical records in 8 patients with a major Mini Mental State Examination score decrease of ≥5 points revealed specific causes in 6 cases (postinterventional delirium in 2; postinterventional stroke, progressive renal failure, progressive heart failure, or combination of preexisting cerebrovascular disease and mild cognitive impairment in 1 each). Among 48 patients with impaired baseline cognition (Mini Mental State Examination score <26 points), 18 patients (37.5%) cognitively improved. The preinterventional aortic valve area was lower in patients who cognitively improved (median aortic valve area 0.60 cm 2 ) as compared with patients who did not improve (median aortic valve area 0.70 cm 2 ; P=0.01). This is the first study providing evidence that TAVI results in cognitive improvement among patients who had impaired preprocedural cognitive function, possibly related to hemodynamic improvement in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Our results confirm that some patients experience cognitive deterioration after TAVI. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

The Nature of the Language Faculty and Its Implications for Evolution of Language (Reply to Fitch, Hauser, and Chomsky)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackendoff, Ray; Pinker, Steven

2005-01-01

In a continuation of the conversation with Fitch, Chomsky, and Hauser on the evolution of language, we examine their defense of the claim that the uniquely human, language-specific part of the language faculty (the ''narrow language faculty'') consists only of recursion, and that this part cannot be considered an adaptation to communication. We…

When Language Experience Fails to Explain Word Reading Development: Early Cognitive and Linguistic Profiles of Young Foreign Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Chieh-Fang; Schuele, C. Melanie

2015-01-01

Although language experience is a key factor in successful foreign language (FL) learning, many FL learners fail to achieve performance levels that were predicted on the basis of their FL experience. This retrospective study investigated early cognitive and linguistic correlates of learning English as a foreign language (FL) in a group of…

Interaction between lexical and grammatical language systems in the brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ardila, Alfredo

2012-06-01

This review concentrates on two different language dimensions: lexical/semantic and grammatical. This distinction between a lexical/semantic system and a grammatical system is well known in linguistics, but in cognitive neurosciences it has been obscured by the assumption that there are several forms of language disturbances associated with focal brain damage and hence language includes a diversity of functions (phoneme discrimination, lexical memory, grammar, repetition, language initiation ability, etc.), each one associated with the activity of a specific brain area. The clinical observation of patients with cerebral pathology shows that there are indeed only two different forms of language disturbances (disturbances in the lexical/semantic system and disturbances in the grammatical system); these two language dimensions are supported by different brain areas (temporal and frontal) in the left hemisphere. Furthermore, these two aspects of the language are developed at different ages during child's language acquisition, and they probably appeared at different historical moments during human evolution. Mechanisms of learning are different for both language systems: whereas the lexical/semantic knowledge is based in a declarative memory, grammatical knowledge corresponds to a procedural type of memory. Recognizing these two language dimensions can be crucial in understanding language evolution and human cognition.

Neural Cognition and Affective Computing on Cyber Language.

PubMed

Huang, Shuang; Zhou, Xuan; Xue, Ke; Wan, Xiqiong; Yang, Zhenyi; Xu, Duo; Ivanović, Mirjana; Yu, Xueer

2015-01-01

Characterized by its customary symbol system and simple and vivid expression patterns, cyber language acts as not only a tool for convenient communication but also a carrier of abundant emotions and causes high attention in public opinion analysis, internet marketing, service feedback monitoring, and social emergency management. Based on our multidisciplinary research, this paper presents a classification of the emotional symbols in cyber language, analyzes the cognitive characteristics of different symbols, and puts forward a mechanism model to show the dominant neural activities in that process. Through the comparative study of Chinese, English, and Spanish, which are used by the largest population in the world, this paper discusses the expressive patterns of emotions in international cyber languages and proposes an intelligent method for affective computing on cyber language in a unified PAD (Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance) emotional space.

Neural Cognition and Affective Computing on Cyber Language

PubMed Central

Huang, Shuang; Zhou, Xuan; Xue, Ke; Wan, Xiqiong; Yang, Zhenyi; Xu, Duo; Ivanović, Mirjana

2015-01-01

Characterized by its customary symbol system and simple and vivid expression patterns, cyber language acts as not only a tool for convenient communication but also a carrier of abundant emotions and causes high attention in public opinion analysis, internet marketing, service feedback monitoring, and social emergency management. Based on our multidisciplinary research, this paper presents a classification of the emotional symbols in cyber language, analyzes the cognitive characteristics of different symbols, and puts forward a mechanism model to show the dominant neural activities in that process. Through the comparative study of Chinese, English, and Spanish, which are used by the largest population in the world, this paper discusses the expressive patterns of emotions in international cyber languages and proposes an intelligent method for affective computing on cyber language in a unified PAD (Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance) emotional space. PMID:26491431

Biology-Culture Co-evolution in Finite Populations.

PubMed

de Boer, Bart; Thompson, Bill

2018-01-19

Language is the result of two concurrent evolutionary processes: biological and cultural inheritance. An influential evolutionary hypothesis known as the moving target problem implies inherent limitations on the interactions between our two inheritance streams that result from a difference in pace: the speed of cultural evolution is thought to rule out cognitive adaptation to culturally evolving aspects of language. We examine this hypothesis formally by casting it as as a problem of adaptation in time-varying environments. We present a mathematical model of biology-culture co-evolution in finite populations: a generalisation of the Moran process, treating co-evolution as coupled non-independent Markov processes, providing a general formulation of the moving target hypothesis in precise probabilistic terms. Rapidly varying culture decreases the probability of biological adaptation. However, we show that this effect declines with population size and with stronger links between biology and culture: in realistically sized finite populations, stochastic effects can carry cognitive specialisations to fixation in the face of variable culture, especially if the effects of those specialisations are amplified through cultural evolution. These results support the view that language arises from interactions between our two major inheritance streams, rather than from one primary evolutionary process that dominates another.

Language, Cognitive Flexibility, and Explicit False Belief Understanding: Longitudinal Analysis in Typical Development and Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrant, Brad M.; Maybery, Murray T.; Fletcher, Janet

2012-01-01

The hypothesis that language plays a role in theory-of-mind (ToM) development is supported by a number of lines of evidence (e.g., H. Lohmann & M. Tomasello, 2003). The current study sought to further investigate the relations between maternal language input, memory for false sentential complements, cognitive flexibility, and the development of…

General intelligence does not help us understand cognitive evolution.

PubMed

Shuker, David M; Barrett, Louise; Dickins, Thomas E; Scott-Phillips, Thom C; Barton, Robert A

2017-01-01

Burkart et al. conflate the domain-specificity of cognitive processes with the statistical pattern of variance in behavioural measures that partly reflect those processes. General intelligence is a statistical abstraction, not a cognitive trait, and we argue that the former does not warrant inferences about the nature or evolution of the latter.

Physical Interactive Game for Enhancing Language Cognitive Development of Thai Pre-Schooler

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choosri, Noppon; Pookao, Chompoonut

2017-01-01

The intervention for cognitive language development is required to conduct at the young ages. As children usually gain the skill through their plays, this study proposed a physical interactive game to help children improve their language skill in both Thai and English language for pre-schooler. The motivation of this research is to create a game…

El Lenguaje en Evolucion (Language in Evolution)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jurado, Arturo

1974-01-01

The evolution of the Spanish language is due, in part, to popular culture and radio, television, films and advertising. Many words take on altered meaning when used in casual, intimate or slangy conversation; included is a list of such words with their informal connotations, as used by many Mexicans. (Text is in Spanish.) (CK)

The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution.

PubMed

Imai, Mutsumi; Kita, Sotaro

2014-09-19

Sound symbolism is a non-arbitrary relationship between speech sounds and meaning. We review evidence that, contrary to the traditional view in linguistics, sound symbolism is an important design feature of language, which affects online processing of language, and most importantly, language acquisition. We propose the sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis, claiming that (i) pre-verbal infants are sensitive to sound symbolism, due to a biologically endowed ability to map and integrate multi-modal input, (ii) sound symbolism helps infants gain referential insight for speech sounds, (iii) sound symbolism helps infants and toddlers associate speech sounds with their referents to establish a lexical representation and (iv) sound symbolism helps toddlers learn words by allowing them to focus on referents embedded in a complex scene, alleviating Quine's problem. We further explore the possibility that sound symbolism is deeply related to language evolution, drawing the parallel between historical development of language across generations and ontogenetic development within individuals. Finally, we suggest that sound symbolism bootstrapping is a part of a more general phenomenon of bootstrapping by means of iconic representations, drawing on similarities and close behavioural links between sound symbolism and speech-accompanying iconic gesture. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Temporal Evolution of Poststroke Cognitive Impairment Using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.

PubMed

Nijsse, Britta; Visser-Meily, Johanna M A; van Mierlo, Maria L; Post, Marcel W M; de Kort, Paul L M; van Heugten, Caroline M

2017-01-01

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is nowadays recommended for the screening of poststroke cognitive impairment. However, little is known about the temporal evolution of MoCA-assessed cognition after stroke. The objective of this study was to examine the temporal pattern of overall and domain-specific cognition at 2 and 6 months after stroke using the MoCA and to identify patient groups at risk for cognitive impairment at 6 months after stroke. Prospective cohort study in which 324 patients were administered the MoCA at 2 and 6 months post stroke. Cognitive impairment was defined as MoCA<26. Differences in cognitive impairment rates between 2 and 6 months post stroke were analyzed in different subgroups. Patients with MoCA score <26 at 2 months, who improved by ≥2 points by 6 months, were defined as reverters. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify determinants of (1) cognitive impairment at 6 months post stroke and (2) reverter status. Between 2 and 6 months post stroke, mean MoCA score improved from 23.7 (3.9) to 24.7 (3.5), P<0.001. Prevalence of cognitive impairment at 2 months was 66.4%, compared with 51.9% at 6 months (P<0.001). More comorbidity and presence of cognitive impairment at 2 months were significant independent predictors of cognitive impairment 6 months post stroke. No significant determinants of reverter status were identified. Although cognitive improvement is seen ≤6 months post stroke, long-term cognitive deficits are prevalent. Identifying patients at risk of cognitive impairment is, therefore, important as well as targeting interventions to this group. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cognitive processes and neural basis of language switching: proposal of a new model.

PubMed

Moritz-Gasser, Sylvie; Duffau, Hugues

2009-12-09

Although studies on bilingualism are abundant, cognitive processes and neural foundations of language switching received less attention. The aim of our study is to provide new insights to this still open question: do dedicated region(s) for language switching exist or is this function underlain by a distributed circuit of interconnected brain areas, part of a more general cognitive system? On the basis of recent behavioral, neuroimaging, and brain stimulation studies, we propose an original 'hodological' model of language switching. This process might be subserved by a large-scale cortico-subcortical network, with an executive system (prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulum, caudate nucleus) controlling a more dedicated language subcircuit, which involves postero-temporal areas, supramarginal and angular gyri, Broca's area, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus.

Evo-devo, deep homology and FoxP2: implications for the evolution of speech and language

PubMed Central

Scharff, Constance; Petri, Jana

2011-01-01

The evolution of novel morphological features, such as feathers, involves the modification of developmental processes regulated by gene networks. The fact that genetic novelty operates within developmental constraints is the central tenet of the ‘evo-devo’ conceptual framework. It is supported by findings that certain molecular regulatory pathways act in a similar manner in the development of morphological adaptations, which are not directly related by common ancestry but evolved convergently. The Pax6 gene, important for vision in molluscs, insects and vertebrates, and Hox genes, important for tetrapod limbs and fish fins, exemplify this ‘deep homology’. Recently, ‘evo-devo’ has expanded to the molecular analysis of behavioural traits, including social behaviour, learning and memory. Here, we apply this approach to the evolution of human language. Human speech is a form of auditory-guided, learned vocal motor behaviour that also evolved in certain species of birds, bats and ocean mammals. Genes relevant for language, including the transcription factor FOXP2, have been identified. We review evidence that FoxP2 and its regulatory gene network shapes neural plasticity in cortico-basal ganglia circuits underlying the sensory-guided motor learning in animal models. The emerging picture can help us understand how complex cognitive traits can ‘descend with modification’. PMID:21690130

Evo-devo, deep homology and FoxP2: implications for the evolution of speech and language.

PubMed

Scharff, Constance; Petri, Jana

2011-07-27

The evolution of novel morphological features, such as feathers, involves the modification of developmental processes regulated by gene networks. The fact that genetic novelty operates within developmental constraints is the central tenet of the 'evo-devo' conceptual framework. It is supported by findings that certain molecular regulatory pathways act in a similar manner in the development of morphological adaptations, which are not directly related by common ancestry but evolved convergently. The Pax6 gene, important for vision in molluscs, insects and vertebrates, and Hox genes, important for tetrapod limbs and fish fins, exemplify this 'deep homology'. Recently, 'evo-devo' has expanded to the molecular analysis of behavioural traits, including social behaviour, learning and memory. Here, we apply this approach to the evolution of human language. Human speech is a form of auditory-guided, learned vocal motor behaviour that also evolved in certain species of birds, bats and ocean mammals. Genes relevant for language, including the transcription factor FOXP2, have been identified. We review evidence that FoxP2 and its regulatory gene network shapes neural plasticity in cortico-basal ganglia circuits underlying the sensory-guided motor learning in animal models. The emerging picture can help us understand how complex cognitive traits can 'descend with modification'.

Evolution: Language Use and the Evolution of Languages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Croft, William

Language change can be understood as an evolutionary process. Language change occurs at two different timescales, corresponding to the two steps of the evolutionary process. The first timescale is very short, namely, the production of an utterance: this is where linguistic structures are replicated and language variation is generated. The second timescale is (or can be) very long, namely, the propagation of linguistic variants in the speech community: this is where certain variants are selected over others. At both timescales, the evolutionary process is driven by social interaction and the role language plays in it. An understanding of social interaction at the micro-level—face-to-face interactions—and at the macro-level—the structure of speech communities—gives us the basis for understanding the generation and propagation of language structures, and understanding the nature of language itself.

Foreign Language for the Gifted: Extending Cognitive Dimensions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garfinkel, Alan; Prentice, Mary

Procedures are described for use in foreign language classes that tap the characteristics of gifted students. Each activity is directly associated with at least one of the cognitive characteristics attributed to the gifted, which are listed in the introductory section of the paper. The procedures include the following activities: conducting a…

Comparison of the Recovery Patterns of Language and Cognitive Functions in Patients with Post-Traumatic Language Processing Deficits and in Patients with Aphasia Following a Stroke

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vukovic, Mile; Vuksanovic, Jasmina; Vukovic, Irena

2008-01-01

In this study we investigated the recovery patterns of language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke. The correlation of specific language functions and cognitive functions was analyzed in the acute phase and 6 months later. Significant recovery of the…

Language, Executive Function and Social Cognition in the Diagnosis of Frontotemporal Dementia Syndromes

PubMed Central

Harciarek, Michał; Cosentino, Stephanie

2015-01-01

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) represents a spectrum of non-Alzheimer’s degenerative conditions associated with focal atrophy of the frontal and/or temporal lobes. Frontal and temporal regions of the brain have been shown to be strongly involved in executive function, social cognition and language processing and, thus, deficits in these domains are frequently seen in patients with FTD or may even be hallmarks of a specific FTD subtype ( i.e., relatively selective and progressive language impairment in primary progressive aphasia). In this review, we have attempted to delineate how language, executive function, and social cognition may contribute to the diagnosis of FTD syndromes, namely the behavioral variant FTD as well as the language variants of FTD including the three subtypes of primary progressive aphasia (PPA): non-fluent/agrammatic, semantic, and logopenic. This review also addresses the extent to which deficits in these cognitive areas contribute to the differential diagnosis of FTD versus AD. Finally, early clinical determinants of pathology are briefly discussed and contemporary challenges to the diagnosis of FTD are presented. PMID:23611348

The interrelationships between motor, cognitive, and language development in children with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities.

PubMed

Houwen, Suzanne; Visser, Linda; van der Putten, Annette; Vlaskamp, Carla

2016-01-01

It is generally agreed that cognitive and language development are dependent on the emergence of motor skills. As the literature on this issue concerning children with developmental disabilities is scarce, we examined the interrelationships between motor, cognitive, and language development in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and compared them to those in children without IDD. In addition, we investigated whether these relationships differ between children with different levels of cognitive delay. Seventy-seven children with IDD (calendar age between 1;0 and 9;10 years; mean developmental age: 1;8 years) and 130 typically developing children (calendar age between 0;3 and 3;6 years; mean developmental age: 1;10 years) were tested with the Dutch Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition, which assesses development across three domains using five subscales: fine motor development, gross motor development (motor), cognition (cognitive), receptive communication, and expressive communication (language). Results showed that correlations between the motor, cognitive, and language domains were strong, namely .61 to .94 in children with IDD and weak to strong, namely .24 to .56 in children without IDD. Furthermore, the correlations showed a tendency to increase with the severity of IDD. It can be concluded that both fine and gross motor development are more strongly associated with cognition, and consequently language, in children with IDD than in children without IDD. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of early interventions that boost both motor and cognitive development, and suggest that such interventions will also enhance language development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Learning Strategy of BIPA Students in Learning the Indonesian Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suyitno, Imam; Susanto, Gatut; Kamal, Musthofa; Fawzi, Ary

2017-01-01

The study outlined in this article aims to describe and explain the cognitive learning strategies used by foreign students in learning the Indonesian language. The research was designed as a qualitative study. The research participants are foreign students who were learning the Indonesian language in the BIPA program. The data sources of the…

Applications of Cognitive Load Theory to Multimedia-Based Foreign Language Learning: An Overview

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, I-Jung; Chang, Chi-Cheng; Lee, Yen-Chang

2009-01-01

This article reviews the multimedia instructional design literature based on cognitive load theory (CLT) in the context of foreign language learning. Multimedia are of particular importance in language learning materials because they incorporate text, image, and sound, thus offering an integrated learning experience of the four language skills…

The Cognitive Development of Young Dual Language Learners: A Critical Review

PubMed Central

Barac, Raluca; Bialystok, Ellen; Castro, Dina C.; Sanchez, Marta

2014-01-01

Dual language exposure and bilingualism are relatively common experiences for children. The present review set out to synthesize the existing research on cognitive development in bilingual children and to identify the gaps and the methodological concerns present in the existing research. A search of major data bases for research conducted with typically-developing, preschool-age dual language learners between 2000-2013 yielded 102 peer-reviewed articles. The existing evidence points to areas of cognitive development in bilingual children where findings are robust or inconclusive, and reveals variables that influence performance. The present review also identifies areas for future research and methodological limitations. PMID:25284958

A Dual Coding Model of Processing Chinese as a Second Language: A Cognitive-Load Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sham, Diana Po Lan

2002-01-01

The research was conducted in Sydney and Hong Kong using students, from grades 5 to 9, whose first language or teaching medium was English, learning to read Chinese as second language. According to cognitive load theory, the processing of single Chinese characters accompanied by pictures should impose extraneous cognitive load and thus hinders…

Utility of the Psychoeducational Profile-3 for assessing cognitive and language skills of children with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Fulton, Mandy L; D'Entremont, Barbara

2013-10-01

The Psychoeducational Profile-3's (PEP-3) ability to estimate cognitive and language skills of 136 children (20-75 months) with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) across a range of functioning, and the association between the PEP-3 and ASD symptomatology was examined using retrospective data. PEP-3 cognitive and language measures were positively correlated with similar measures on the Child Development Inventory, the Merrill-Palmer Revised, and the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale-2. The PEP-3 sometimes provided higher or lower estimates than other measures. Significant differences were found between diagnostic groups on PEP-3 cognitive and language measures. PEP-3 cognitive scores correlated positively with scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Findings support the use of the PEP-3 to measure cognition and language in children with ASDs.

Phonation takes precedence over articulation in development as well as evolution of language.

PubMed

Oller, D Kimbrough

2014-12-01

Early human vocal development is characterized first by emerging control of phonation and later by prosodic and supraglottal articulation. The target article has missed the opportunity to use these facts in the characterization of evolution in language-specific brain mechanisms. Phonation appears to be the initial human-specific brain change for language, and it was presumably a key target of selection in early hominin evolution.

Brain-Based Aspects of Cognitive Learning Approaches in Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moghaddam, Alireza Navid; Araghi, Seyed Mahdi

2013-01-01

Language learning process is one of the complicated behaviors of human beings which has called many scholars and experts' attention especially after the middle of last century by the advent of cognitive psychology that later on we see its implication to education. Unlike previous thought of schools, cognitive psychology deals with the way in which…

Language and Cognitive Predictors of Text Comprehension: Evidence from Multivariate Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk

2015-01-01

Using data from children in South Korea (N = 145, M[subscript age] = 6.08), it was determined how low-level language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and working memory) and high-level cognitive skills (comprehension monitoring and theory of mind [ToM]) are related to listening comprehension and whether listening…

The Cultural Evolution of Structured Languages in an Open-Ended, Continuous World.

PubMed

Carr, Jon W; Smith, Kenny; Cornish, Hannah; Kirby, Simon

2017-05-01

Language maps signals onto meanings through the use of two distinct types of structure. First, the space of meanings is discretized into categories that are shared by all users of the language. Second, the signals employed by the language are compositional: The meaning of the whole is a function of its parts and the way in which those parts are combined. In three iterated learning experiments using a vast, continuous, open-ended meaning space, we explore the conditions under which both structured categories and structured signals emerge ex nihilo. While previous experiments have been limited to either categorical structure in meanings or compositional structure in signals, these experiments demonstrate that when the meaning space lacks clear preexisting boundaries, more subtle morphological structure that lacks straightforward compositionality-as found in natural languages-may evolve as a solution to joint pressures from learning and communication. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Cognitive Science Society.

[Influence of depression on the initial diagnosis and the evolution of cognitive impairment].

PubMed

Cenalmor-Aparicio, C; Bravo-Quelle, N; Miranda-Acuna, J; Luque-Buzo, E; Herrera-Tejedor, J; Olazaran-Rodriguez, J

2017-07-16

Depression and cognitive impairment maintain a close and complex relationship, which could be modified by pharmacological treatment. To analyze the influence of depression and antidepressive medication on the initial diagnosis and the evolution of cognitive impairment. All the patients derived to a Neurology clinic due to complaints or suspicion of cognitive impairment, during a period of nine years, were studied. The influence of demographic and depression-related variables on initial cognitive diagnosis, cognitive-functional situation and 1-year evolution were analyzed. A total of 582 patients were included (mean age: 77.6 ± 7.0; 64.9% women). Frequency of current and past depression were, respectively, 25.4% and 17.2%. In addition, 20.6% of the patients were taking antidepressant medication and 31.2% were on anxiolytic/hypnotic treatment. One-year follow-up visit was available in 320 (59.8%) of patients. In the adjusted analysis, anxiolytic/hypnotic treatment was associated with a worse cognitive-functional situation in the initial visit, while past depression and presence of dystimia were associated with a favorable evolution (p < 0.05). Past or current depression are not associated with bad prognosis in patients derived to neurologist due to possible cognitive impairment.

Second language lexical development and cognitive control: A longitudinal fMRI study.

PubMed

Grant, Angela M; Fang, Shin-Yi; Li, Ping

2015-05-01

In this paper we report a longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that tested contrasting predictions about the time course of cognitive control in second language (L2) acquisition. We examined the neural correlates of lexical processing in L2 learners twice over the course of one academic year. Specifically, while in the scanner, participants were asked to judge the language membership of unambiguous first and second language words, as well as interlingual homographs. Our ROI and connectivity analyses reveal that with increased exposure to the L2, overall activation in control areas such as the anterior cingulate cortex decrease while connectivity with semantic processing regions such as the middle temporal gyrus increase. These results suggest that cognitive control is more important initially in L2 acquisition, and have significant implications for understanding developmental and neurocognitive models of second language lexical processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Empathy and Emotional Empathy in Human Behavior and Evolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Adam

2006-01-01

This article presents 7 simple models of the relationship between cognitive empathy (mental perspective taking) and emotional empathy (the vicarious sharing of emotion). I consider behavioral outcomes of the models, arguing that, during human evolution, natural selection may have acted on variation in the relationship between cognitive empathy and…

Tone Language Speakers and Musicians Share Enhanced Perceptual and Cognitive Abilities for Musical Pitch: Evidence for Bidirectionality between the Domains of Language and Music

PubMed Central

Bidelman, Gavin M.; Hutka, Stefanie; Moreno, Sylvain

2013-01-01

Psychophysiological evidence suggests that music and language are intimately coupled such that experience/training in one domain can influence processing required in the other domain. While the influence of music on language processing is now well-documented, evidence of language-to-music effects have yet to be firmly established. Here, using a cross-sectional design, we compared the performance of musicians to that of tone-language (Cantonese) speakers on tasks of auditory pitch acuity, music perception, and general cognitive ability (e.g., fluid intelligence, working memory). While musicians demonstrated superior performance on all auditory measures, comparable perceptual enhancements were observed for Cantonese participants, relative to English-speaking nonmusicians. These results provide evidence that tone-language background is associated with higher auditory perceptual performance for music listening. Musicians and Cantonese speakers also showed superior working memory capacity relative to nonmusician controls, suggesting that in addition to basic perceptual enhancements, tone-language background and music training might also be associated with enhanced general cognitive abilities. Our findings support the notion that tone language speakers and musically trained individuals have higher performance than English-speaking listeners for the perceptual-cognitive processing necessary for basic auditory as well as complex music perception. These results illustrate bidirectional influences between the domains of music and language. PMID:23565267

Thinking outside the cortex: social motivation in the evolution and development of language.

PubMed

Syal, Supriya; Finlay, Barbara L

2011-03-01

Alteration of the organization of social and motivational neuroanatomical circuitry must have been an essential step in the evolution of human language. Development of vocal communication across species, particularly birdsong, and new research on the neural organization and evolution of social and motivational circuitry, together suggest that human language is the result of an obligatory link of a powerful cortico-striatal learning system, and subcortical socio-motivational circuitry.

Prenatal Alcohol and Cocaine Exposure: Influences on Cognition, Speech, Language, and Hearing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cone-Wesson, B.

2005-01-01

This paper reviews research on the consequences of prenatal exposure to alcohol and cocaine on children's speech, language, hearing, and cognitive development. The review shows that cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, and behavioral disorders are the central nervous system manifestations of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and cranio-facial…

Uncovering the Mechanisms Responsible for Why Language Learning May Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging

PubMed Central

Antoniou, Mark; Wright, Sarah M.

2017-01-01

One of the great challenges facing humankind in the 21st century is preserving healthy brain function in our aging population. Individuals over 60 are the fastest growing age group in the world, and by 2050, it is estimated that the number of people over the age of 60 will triple. The typical aging process involves cognitive decline related to brain atrophy, especially in frontal brain areas and regions that subserve declarative memory, loss of synaptic connections, and the emergence of neuropathological symptoms associated with dementia. The disease-state of this age-related cognitive decline is Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, which may cause older adults to lose their independence and rely on others to live safely, burdening family members and health care systems in the process. However, there are two lines of research that offer hope to those seeking to promote healthy cognitive aging. First, it has been observed that lifestyle variables such as cognitive leisure activities can moderate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, which has led to the development of plasticity-based interventions for older adults designed to protect against the adverse effects of cognitive decline. Second, there is evidence that lifelong bilingualism acts as a safeguard in preserving healthy brain function, possibly delaying the incidence of dementia by several years. In previous work, we have suggested that foreign language learning programs aimed at older populations are an optimal solution for building cognitive reserve because language learning engages an extensive brain network that is known to overlap with the regions negatively affected by the aging process. Here, we will outline potential future lines of research that may uncover the mechanism responsible for the emergence of language learning related brain advantages, such as language typology, bi- vs. multi-lingualism, age of acquisition, and the elements that are likely to result in the largest gains. PMID:29326636

Uncovering the Mechanisms Responsible for Why Language Learning May Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging.

PubMed

Antoniou, Mark; Wright, Sarah M

2017-01-01

One of the great challenges facing humankind in the 21st century is preserving healthy brain function in our aging population. Individuals over 60 are the fastest growing age group in the world, and by 2050, it is estimated that the number of people over the age of 60 will triple. The typical aging process involves cognitive decline related to brain atrophy, especially in frontal brain areas and regions that subserve declarative memory, loss of synaptic connections, and the emergence of neuropathological symptoms associated with dementia. The disease-state of this age-related cognitive decline is Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, which may cause older adults to lose their independence and rely on others to live safely, burdening family members and health care systems in the process. However, there are two lines of research that offer hope to those seeking to promote healthy cognitive aging. First, it has been observed that lifestyle variables such as cognitive leisure activities can moderate the risk of Alzheimer's disease, which has led to the development of plasticity-based interventions for older adults designed to protect against the adverse effects of cognitive decline. Second, there is evidence that lifelong bilingualism acts as a safeguard in preserving healthy brain function, possibly delaying the incidence of dementia by several years. In previous work, we have suggested that foreign language learning programs aimed at older populations are an optimal solution for building cognitive reserve because language learning engages an extensive brain network that is known to overlap with the regions negatively affected by the aging process. Here, we will outline potential future lines of research that may uncover the mechanism responsible for the emergence of language learning related brain advantages, such as language typology, bi- vs. multi-lingualism, age of acquisition, and the elements that are likely to result in the largest gains.

Cognitive Profiles of Finnish Preschool Children with Expressive and Receptive Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saar, Virpi; Levänen, Sari; Komulainen, Erkki

2018-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the verbal and nonverbal cognitive profiles of children with specific language impairment (SLI) with problems predominantly in expressive (SLI-E) or receptive (SLI-R) language skills. These diagnostic subgroups have not been compared before in psychological studies. Method: Participants were…

Allocation of Limited Cognitive Resources during Text Comprehension in a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morishima, Yasunori

2013-01-01

For native (L1) comprehenders, lower-level language processes such as lexical access and parsing are considered to consume few cognitive resources. In contrast, these processes pose considerable demands for second-language (L2) comprehenders. Two reading-time experiments employing inconsistency detection found that English learners did not detect…

Analyzing the Rate at Which Languages Lose the Influence of a Common Ancestor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rafferty, Anna N.; Griffiths, Thomas L.; Klein, Dan

2014-01-01

Analyzing the rate at which languages change can clarify whether similarities across languages are solely the result of cognitive biases or might be partially due to descent from a common ancestor. To demonstrate this approach, we use a simple model of language evolution to mathematically determine how long it should take for the distribution over…

Cognitive techniques and language: A return to behavioral origins.

PubMed

Froján Parga, María X; Núñez de Prado Gordillo, Miguel; de Pascual Verdú, Ricardo

2017-08-01

the main purpose of this study is to offer an alternative explanatory account of the functioning of cognitive techniques that is based on the principles of associative learning and highlights their verbal nature. The traditional accounts are questioned and analyzed in the light of the situation of psychology in the 1970s. conceptual analysis is employed to revise the concepts of language, cognition and behavior. Several operant- and Pavlovian-based approaches to these phenomena are presented, while particular emphasis is given to Mowrer’s (1954) approach and Ryle (1949) and Wittgenstein’s (1953) philosophical contributions to the field. several logical problems are found in regard to the theoretical foundations of cognitive techniques. A combination of both operant and Pavlovian paradigms based on the above-mentioned approaches is offered as an alternative explanatory account of cognitive techniques. This new approach could overcome the conceptual fragilities of the cognitive standpoint and its dependence upon constructs of dubious logical and scientific validity.

Nonverbal and Language-Reduced Measures of Cognitive Ability: A Review and Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drevon, Daniel D.; Knight, Rachel M.; Bradley-Johnson, Sharon

2017-01-01

With the number of new and revised nonverbal and language-reduced tests of cognitive ability, selection and interpretation of appropriate measures can be complicated. Seven nonverbal or language-reduced tests with normative data collected within the last 15 years were evaluated. Besides evaluating technical adequacy, other variables affecting test…

Language production and working memory in classic galactosemia from a cognitive neuroscience perspective: future research directions.

PubMed

Timmers, Inge; van den Hurk, Job; Di Salle, Francesco; Rubio-Gozalbo, M Estela; Jansma, Bernadette M

2011-04-01

Most humans are social beings and we express our thoughts and feelings through language. In contrast to the ease with which we speak, the underlying cognitive and neural processes of language production are fairly complex and still little understood. In the hereditary metabolic disease classic galactosemia, failures in language production processes are among the most reported difficulties. It is unclear, however, what the underlying neural cause of this cognitive problem is. Modern brain imaging techniques allow us to look into the brain of a thinking patient online - while she or he is performing a task, such as speaking. We can measure indirectly neural activity related to the output side of a process (e.g. articulation). But most importantly, we can look into the planning phase prior to an overt response, hence tapping into subcomponents of speech planning. These components include verbal memory, intention to speak, and the planning of meaning, syntax, and phonology. This paper briefly introduces cognitive theories on language production and methods used in cognitive neuroscience. It reviews the possibilities of applying them in experimental paradigms to investigate language production and verbal memory in galactosemia.

Exploring Cognitive Relations Between Prediction in Language and Music.

PubMed

Patel, Aniruddh D; Morgan, Emily

2017-03-01

The online processing of both music and language involves making predictions about upcoming material, but the relationship between prediction in these two domains is not well understood. Electrophysiological methods for studying individual differences in prediction in language processing have opened the door to new questions. Specifically, we ask whether individuals with musical training predict upcoming linguistic material more strongly and/or more accurately than non-musicians. We propose two reasons why prediction in these two domains might be linked: (a) Musicians may have greater verbal short-term/working memory; (b) music may specifically reward predictions based on hierarchical structure. We provide suggestions as to how to expand upon recent work on individual differences in language processing to test these hypotheses. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Developmental trajectories in siblings of children with autism: cognition and language from 4 months to 7 years.

PubMed

Gamliel, Ifat; Yirmiya, Nurit; Jaffe, Dena H; Manor, Orly; Sigman, Marian

2009-08-01

We compared the cognitive and language development at 4, 14, 24, 36, 54 months, and 7 years of siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) to that of siblings of children with typical development (SIBS-TD) using growth curve analyses. At 7 years, 40% of the SIBS-A, compared to 16% of SIBS-TD, were identified with cognitive, language and/or academic difficulties, identified using direct tests and/or parental reports. This sub-group was identified as SIBS-A-broad phenotype (BP). Results indicated that early language scores (14-54 months), but not cognitive scores of SIBS-A-BP and SIBS-A-nonBP were significantly lower compared to the language scores of SIBS-TD, and that the rate of development was also significantly different, thus pinpointing language as a major area of difficulty for SIBS-A during the preschool years.

Without it no music: cognition, biology and evolution of musicality

PubMed Central

Honing, Henkjan; ten Cate, Carel; Peretz, Isabelle; Trehub, Sandra E.

2015-01-01

Musicality can be defined as a natural, spontaneously developing trait based on and constrained by biology and cognition. Music, by contrast, can be defined as a social and cultural construct based on that very musicality. One critical challenge is to delineate the constituent elements of musicality. What biological and cognitive mechanisms are essential for perceiving, appreciating and making music? Progress in understanding the evolution of music cognition depends upon adequate characterization of the constituent mechanisms of musicality and the extent to which they are present in non-human species. We argue for the importance of identifying these mechanisms and delineating their functions and developmental course, as well as suggesting effective means of studying them in human and non-human animals. It is virtually impossible to underpin the evolutionary role of musicality as a whole, but a multicomponent perspective on musicality that emphasizes its constituent capacities, development and neural cognitive specificity is an excellent starting point for a research programme aimed at illuminating the origins and evolution of musical behaviour as an autonomous trait. PMID:25646511

Infant communication and subsequent language development in children from low-income families: the role of early cognitive stimulation.

PubMed

Cates, Carolyn Brockmeyer; Dreyer, Benard P; Berkule, Samantha B; White, Lisa J; Arevalo, Jenny A; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2012-09-01

To explore the relationship between early cognitive stimulation in the home, 6-month infant communication, and 24-month toddler language in a low-socioeconomic status sample. Longitudinal analyses of mother-child dyads participating in larger study of early child development were performed. Dyads enrolled postpartum in an urban public hospital. Cognitive stimulation in the home at 6 months was assessed using StimQ-lnfant, including provision of toys, shared reading, teaching, and verbal responsivity. Early infant communication was assessed at 6 months including the following: (1) Emotion and eye gaze (Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale DP-CSBS DP), (2) Communicative bids (CSBS DP), and (3) Expression of emotion (Short Temperament Scale for Infants). Toddler language was assessed at 24 months using the Preschool Language Scale-4, including the following: (1) expressive language and (2) auditory comprehension. Three hundred twenty families were assessed. In structural equation models, cognitive stimulation in the home was strongly associated with early infant communication (β = 0.63, p <.0001) and was predictive of 24-month language (β = 0.20, p <.05). The effect of early cognitive stimulation on 24-month language was mediated through early impacts on infant communication (Indirect β = 0.28, p =.001). Reading, teaching, availability of learning materials, and other reciprocal verbal interactions were all related directly to infant communication and indirectly to language outcomes. The impact of early cognitive stimulation on toddler language is manifested through early associations with infant communication. Pediatric primary care providers should promote cognitive stimulation beginning in early infancy and support the expansion and dissemination of intervention programs such as Reach Out and Read and the Video Interaction Project.

Languaging as Agent and Constituent of Cognitive Change in an Older Adult: An Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swain, Merrill; Lapkin, Sharon

2011-01-01

Vygotsky's writings have established the critical importance of language in the development of higher mental functions, including memory and attention. One of the processes involved in this development is languaging, the activity of mediating cognitively complex ideas using language (Swain, 2006). The present study of an older adult with mild…

Statistical physics of language dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loreto, Vittorio; Baronchelli, Andrea; Mukherjee, Animesh; Puglisi, Andrea; Tria, Francesca

2011-04-01

Language dynamics is a rapidly growing field that focuses on all processes related to the emergence, evolution, change and extinction of languages. Recently, the study of self-organization and evolution of language and meaning has led to the idea that a community of language users can be seen as a complex dynamical system, which collectively solves the problem of developing a shared communication framework through the back-and-forth signaling between individuals. We shall review some of the progress made in the past few years and highlight potential future directions of research in this area. In particular, the emergence of a common lexicon and of a shared set of linguistic categories will be discussed, as examples corresponding to the early stages of a language. The extent to which synthetic modeling is nowadays contributing to the ongoing debate in cognitive science will be pointed out. In addition, the burst of growth of the web is providing new experimental frameworks. It makes available a huge amount of resources, both as novel tools and data to be analyzed, allowing quantitative and large-scale analysis of the processes underlying the emergence of a collective information and language dynamics.

Cognitive Retroactive Transfer (CRT) of Language Skills among Bilingual Arabic-English Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abu-Rabia, Salim; Shakkour, Wael; Siegel, Linda

2013-01-01

This study examined the effects of an intervention helping struggling readers improve their reading and writing skills in English as a foreign language (L2), and those same skills in Arabic, which was their first language (L1). Transferring linguistic skills from L2 to L1 is termed "cognitive retroactive transfer". Tests were…

The Utility of Cognitive Plausibility in Language Acquisition Modeling: Evidence from Word Segmentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Lawrence; Pearl, Lisa

2015-01-01

The informativity of a computational model of language acquisition is directly related to how closely it approximates the actual acquisition task, sometimes referred to as the model's "cognitive plausibility." We suggest that though every computational model necessarily idealizes the modeled task, an informative language acquisition…

Cognitive aging and hearing acuity: modeling spoken language comprehension.

PubMed

Wingfield, Arthur; Amichetti, Nicole M; Lash, Amanda

2015-01-01

The comprehension of spoken language has been characterized by a number of "local" theories that have focused on specific aspects of the task: models of word recognition, models of selective attention, accounts of thematic role assignment at the sentence level, and so forth. The ease of language understanding (ELU) model (Rönnberg et al., 2013) stands as one of the few attempts to offer a fully encompassing framework for language understanding. In this paper we discuss interactions between perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive factors in spoken language understanding. Central to our presentation is an examination of aspects of the ELU model that apply especially to spoken language comprehension in adult aging, where speed of processing, working memory capacity, and hearing acuity are often compromised. We discuss, in relation to the ELU model, conceptions of working memory and its capacity limitations, the use of linguistic context to aid in speech recognition and the importance of inhibitory control, and language comprehension at the sentence level. Throughout this paper we offer a constructive look at the ELU model; where it is strong and where there are gaps to be filled.

Head Start: Curriculum Use and Individual Child Assessment in Cognitive and Language Development. Report to Congressional Requesters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaul, Marnie S.; Ward-Zukerman, Betty; Edmondson, Sara; Moy, Luann; Moriarity, Christopher; Picyk, Elsie

Responding to a Congressional request, the General Accounting Office examined Head Start programs' progress since January 1998 in meeting performance standards for cognitive and language development, their use of curricula since the performance standards for children's cognitive and language development were issued, and the use of teacher…

[Formula: see text]Associations among parent-child relationships and cognitive and language outcomes in a clinical sample of preschool children.

PubMed

Leiser, Kara; Heffelfinger, Amy; Kaugars, Astrida

2017-02-01

To examine associations among parent-child relationship characteristics and child cognitive and language outcomes. Preschool children (n = 72) with early neurological insult completed assessments of cognitive and language functioning and participated in a parent-child semi-structured interaction. Quality of the parent-child relationship accounted for a significant amount of unique variance (12%) in predicting children's overall cognitive and language functioning. Impact of neurological insult was a significant predictor. Caregiver-child interactions that are harmonious and reciprocal as evidenced by affective and/or verbal exchanges support children's cognitive and language development. Observations of interactions can guide providers in facilitating child- and family-centered interventions.

Cognition and the evolution of music: pitfalls and prospects.

PubMed

Honing, Henkjan; Ploeger, Annemie

2012-10-01

What was the role of music in the evolutionary history of human beings? We address this question from the point of view that musicality can be defined as a cognitive trait. Although it has been argued that we will never know how cognitive traits evolved (Lewontin, 1998), we argue that we may know the evolution of music by investigating the fundamental cognitive mechanisms of musicality, for example, relative pitch, tonal encoding of pitch, and beat induction. In addition, we show that a nomological network of evidence (Schmitt & Pilcher, 2004) can be built around the hypothesis that musicality is a cognitive adaptation. Within this network, different modes of evidence are gathered to support a specific evolutionary hypothesis. We show that the combination of psychological, medical, physiological, genetic, phylogenetic, hunter-gatherer, and cross-cultural evidence indicates that musicality is a cognitive adaptation. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The Roles of Cognitive and Language Abilities in Predicting Decoding and Reading Comprehension: Comparisons of Dyslexia and Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lauterbach, Alexandra A.; Park, Yujeong; Lombardino, Linda J.

2017-01-01

This study aimed to (a) explore the roles of cognitive and language variables in predicting reading abilities of two groups of individuals with reading disabilities (i.e., dyslexia and specific language impairment) and (b) examine which variable(s) is the most predictive in differentiating two groups. Inclusion/exclusion criteria applied to…

The Cognitive Validity of Child English Language Tests: What Young Language Learners and Their Native-Speaking Peers Can Reveal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winke, Paula; Lee, Shinhye; Ahn, Jieun Irene; Choi, Ina; Cui, Yaqiong; Yoon, Hyung-Jo

2018-01-01

This study investigated the cognitive validity of two child English language tests. Some teachers maintain that these types of tests may be cognitively invalid because native-English-speaking children would not do well on them (Winke, 2011). So the researchers had native speakers and learners of English aged 7 to 9 take sample versions of two…

Cognitive Effects of Bilingualism: Digging Deeper for the Contributions of Language Dominance, Linguistic Knowledge, Socio-Economic Status and Cognitive Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mueller Gathercole, Virginia C.; Thomas, Enlli Mon; Jones, Leah; Guasch, Nestor Vinas; Young, Nia; Hughes, Emma K.

2010-01-01

This study explores the extent to which a bilingual advantage can be observed for executive function tasks in children of varying levels of language dominance, and examines the contributions of general cognitive knowledge, linguistic abilities, language use and socio-economic level to performance. Welsh-English bilingual and English monolingual…

Aerobic Exercise Improves Mood, Cognition, and Language Function in Parkinson's Disease: Results of a Controlled Study.

PubMed

Altmann, Lori J P; Stegemöller, Elizabeth; Hazamy, Audrey A; Wilson, Jonathan P; Bowers, Dawn; Okun, Michael S; Hass, Chris J

2016-10-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) results in a range of non-motor deficits that can affect mood, cognition, and language, and many of these issues are unresponsive to pharmacological intervention. Aerobic exercise can improve mood and cognition in healthy older adults, although only a few studies have examined exercise effects on these domains in PD. The current study assesses the effects of aerobic exercise on aspects of cognition, mood, and language production in people with PD. This study compares the effects of aerobic exercise to stretch-balance training and a no-contact control group in participants with idiopathic PD. The aerobic and stretch-balance groups trained three times a week for 16 weeks, while controls continued normal activities. Outcome measures included disease severity, mood, cognition (speed of processing, memory, and executive function), and language production (picture descriptions). Cognition and language were assessed in single and dual task conditions. Depressive symptoms increased only in the control group (p<.02). Executive function improved in the aerobic exercise group only in the single task (p=.007) and declined in controls in the dual task. Completeness of picture descriptions improved significantly more in the aerobic group than in the stretch-balance group (p<.02). Aerobic exercise is a viable intervention for PD that can be protective against increased depressive symptoms, and can improve several non-motor domains, including executive dysfunction and related aspects of language production. (JINS, 2016, 22, 878-889).

The origins of language and the evolution of music: A comparative perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masataka, Nobuo

2009-03-01

According to Darwin [Darwin, CR. The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray; 1871], the human musical faculty ‘must be ranked amongst the most mysterious with which he is endowed’. Music is a human cultural universal that serves no obvious adaptive purpose, making its evolution a puzzle for evolutionary biologists. This review examines Darwin's hypothesis of similarities between language and music indicating a shared evolutionary history. In particular, the fact that both are human universals, have phrase structure, and entail learning and cultural transmission, suggests that any theory of the evolution of language will have implications for the evolution of music, and vice versa. The argument starts by describing variable predispositional musical capabilities and the ontogeny of prosodic communication in human infants and young children, presenting comparative data regarding communication systems commonly present in living nonhuman primate species. Like language, the human music faculty is based on a suite of abilities, some of which are shared with other primates and some of which appear to be uniquely human. Each of these subcomponents may have a different evolutionary history, and should be discussed separately. After briefly considering possible functions of human music for language acquisition, the review ends by discussing the phylogenetic history of music. It concludes that many strands of evidence support Darwin's hypothesis of an intermediate stage of human evolutionary history, characterized by a communication system that resembled music more closely than language, but was identical to neither. This pre-linguistic system, which could probably referred to as “prosodic protolanguage”, provided a precursor for both modern language and music.

[Are language disorders in Alzheimer's disease simply aphasia?

PubMed

Hazif-Thomas, Cyril; Thomas, Philippe

Alzheimer's disease is accompanied by gradual aphasia, becoming more severe when the cognitive disorders are more marked. However, the quality of care provided to the patient can modulate the evolution of these language difficulties. Aphasia is linked to a human communication deficiency and can be limited by taking into account the phatic function of language to keep the channels of communication open. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Turn-taking in Human Communication--Origins and Implications for Language Processing.

PubMed

Levinson, Stephen C

2016-01-01

Most language usage is interactive, involving rapid turn-taking. The turn-taking system has a number of striking properties: turns are short and responses are remarkably rapid, but turns are of varying length and often of very complex construction such that the underlying cognitive processing is highly compressed. Although neglected in cognitive science, the system has deep implications for language processing and acquisition that are only now becoming clear. Appearing earlier in ontogeny than linguistic competence, it is also found across all the major primate clades. This suggests a possible phylogenetic continuity, which may provide key insights into language evolution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cultural Transmission and Evolution of Melodic Structures in Multi-generational Signaling Games.

PubMed

Lumaca, Massimo; Baggio, Giosuè

2017-01-01

It has been proposed that languages evolve by adapting to the perceptual and cognitive constraints of the human brain, developing, in the course of cultural transmission, structural regularities that maximize or optimize learnability and ease of processing. To what extent would perceptual and cognitive constraints similarly affect the evolution of musical systems? We conducted an experiment on the cultural evolution of artificial melodic systems, using multi-generational signaling games as a laboratory model of cultural transmission. Signaling systems, using five-tone sequences as signals, and basic and compound emotions as meanings, were transmitted from senders to receivers along diffusion chains in which the receiver in each game became the sender in the next game. During transmission, structural regularities accumulated in the signaling systems, following principles of proximity, symmetry, and good continuation. Although the compositionality of signaling systems did not increase significantly across generations, we did observe a significant increase in similarity among signals from the same set. We suggest that our experiment tapped into the cognitive and perceptual constraints operative in the cultural evolution of musical systems, which may differ from the mechanisms at play in language evolution and change.

Language experience differentiates prefrontal and subcortical activation of the cognitive control network in novel word learning

PubMed Central

King, Kelly E.; Hernandez, Arturo E.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive control mechanisms in adult English speaking monolinguals compared to early sequential Spanish-English bilinguals during the initial stages of novel word learning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during a lexico-semantic task after only two hours of exposure to novel German vocabulary flashcards showed that monolinguals activated a broader set of cortical control regions associated with higher-level cognitive processes, including the supplementary motor area (SMA), anterior cingulate (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), as well as the caudate, implicated in cognitive control of language. However, bilinguals recruited a more localized subcortical network that included the putamen, associated more with motor control of language. These results suggest that experience managing multiple languages may differentiate the learning strategy and subsequent neural mechanisms of cognitive control used by bilinguals compared to monolinguals in the early stages of novel word learning. PMID:23194816

Effects of Embedded and Direct Language Strategies on Prekindergarten Students' Cognitive and Social Emotional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dominy, Matthew L.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of a standard of care embedded language strategies program utilized in combination with direct language strategy instruction on the measured expressive language, cognitive development, social emotional development, and language development of prekindergarten students attending three neighborhood…

Researching Language Teacher Cognition and Practice: International Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnard, Roger, Ed.; Burns, Anne, Ed.

2012-01-01

This book presents a novel approach to discussing how to research language teacher cognition and practice. An introductory chapter by the editors and an overview of the research field by Simon Borg precede eight case studies written by new researchers, each of which focuses on one approach to collecting data. These approaches range from…

Cognitive assessment of refugee children: Effects of trauma and new language acquisition.

PubMed

Kaplan, Ida; Stolk, Yvonne; Valibhoy, Madeleine; Tucker, Alan; Baker, Judy

2016-02-01

Each year, approximately 60,000 children of refugee background are resettled in Western countries. This paper reviews the effects of the refugee experience on cognitive functioning. The distinctive influences for these children include exposure to traumatic events and the need to acquire a new language, factors that need to be considered to avoid overdiagnosis of learning disorders and inappropriate educational placements. Prearrival trauma, psychological sequelae of traumatic events, developmental impact of trauma, and the quality of family functioning have been found to influence cognitive functioning, learning, and academic performance. In addition, the refugee child may be semiproficient in several languages, but proficient in none, whilst also trying to learn a new language. The influence that the child's limited English proficiency, literacy, and school experience may have on academic and test performance is demonstrated by drawing on the research on refugees' English language acquisition, as well as the more extensive literature on bilingual English language learners. Implications for interventions are drawn at the level of government policy, schools, and the individual. The paper concludes with the observation that there is a major need for longitudinal research on refugee children's learning and academic performance and on interventions that will close the academic gap, thereby enabling refugee children to reach their educational potential. © The Author(s) 2015.

Speed of Word Recognition and Vocabulary Knowledge in Infancy Predict Cognitive and Language Outcomes in Later Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchman, Virginia A.; Fernald, Anne

2008-01-01

The nature of predictive relations between early language and later cognitive function is a fundamental question in research on human cognition. In a longitudinal study assessing speed of language processing in infancy, Fernald, Perfors and Marchman (2006 ) found that reaction time at 25 months was strongly related to lexical and grammatical…

Maternal Education Level Predicts Cognitive, Language, and Motor Outcome in Preterm Infants in the Second Year of Life.

PubMed

Patra, Kousiki; Greene, Michelle M; Patel, Aloka L; Meier, Paula

2016-07-01

Objective To evaluate the relative impact of maternal education level (MEL) on cognitive, language, and motor outcomes at 20 months' corrected age (CA) in preterm infants. Study Design A total of 177 preterm infants born between 2008 and 2010 were tested at 20 months' CA using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III. Multiple regression analyses were done to determine the relative impact of MEL on cognitive, language, and motor scores. Results Infants born to mothers with high school MEL were 3.74 times more likely to have a subnormal motor index, while those born to mothers with some college and graduate school MEL had reduced odds (0.36 and 0.12, respectively) of having subnormal language index at 20 months. In linear regression, MEL was the strongest predictor of cognitive, language, and motor scores, and graduate school MEL was associated with increases in cognitive, motor, and language scores of 8.49, 8.23, and 15.74 points, respectively. Conclusions MEL is the most significant predictor of cognitive, language, and motor outcome at 20 months' CA in preterm infants. Further research is needed to evaluate if targeted interventions that focus on early childhood learning and parenting practices can ameliorate the impact of low MEL. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Relaxation of selection, niche construction, and the Baldwin effect in language evolution.

PubMed

Yamauchi, Hajime; Hashimoto, Takashi

2010-01-01

Deacon has suggested that one of the key factors of language evolution is not characterized by an increase in genetic contribution, often known as the Baldwin effect, but rather by a decrease. This process effectively increases linguistic learning capability by organizing a novel synergy of multiple lower-order functions previously irrelevant to the process of language acquisition. Deacon posits that this transition is not caused by natural selection. Rather, it is due to the relaxation of natural selection. While there are some cases in which relaxation caused by some external factors indeed induces the transition, we do not know what kind of relaxation has worked in language evolution. In this article, a genetic-algorithm-based computer simulation is used to investigate how the niche-constructing aspect of linguistic behavior may trigger the degradation of genetic predisposition related to language learning. The results show that agents initially increase their genetic predisposition for language learning—the Baldwin effect. They create a highly uniform sociolinguistic environment—a linguistic niche construction. This means that later generations constantly receive very similar inputs from adult agents, and subsequently the selective pressure to retain the genetic predisposition is relaxed.

Development of structure and function in the infant brain: Implications for cognition, language and social behaviour

PubMed Central

Paterson, Sarah J.; Heim, Sabine; Friedman, Jennifer Thomas; Choudhury, Naseem; Benasich, April A.

2007-01-01

Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience have allowed us to begin investigating the development of both structure and function in the infant brain. However, despite the rapid evolution of technology, surprisingly few studies have examined the intersection between brain and behaviour over the first years of life. Even fewer have done so in the context of a particular research question. This paper aims to provide an overview of four domains that have been studied using techniques amenable to elucidating the brain/behaviour interface: language, face processing, object permanence, and joint attention, with particular emphasis on studies focusing on early development. The importance of the unique role of development and the interplay between structure and function is stressed throughout. It is hoped that this review will serve as a catalyst for further thinking about the substantial gaps in our understanding of the relationship between brain and behaviour across development. Further, our aim is to provide ideas about candidate brain areas that are likely to be implicated in particular behaviours or cognitive domains. PMID:16890291

Without it no music: cognition, biology and evolution of musicality.

PubMed

Honing, Henkjan; ten Cate, Carel; Peretz, Isabelle; Trehub, Sandra E

2015-03-19

Musicality can be defined as a natural, spontaneously developing trait based on and constrained by biology and cognition. Music, by contrast, can be defined as a social and cultural construct based on that very musicality. One critical challenge is to delineate the constituent elements of musicality. What biological and cognitive mechanisms are essential for perceiving, appreciating and making music? Progress in understanding the evolution of music cognition depends upon adequate characterization of the constituent mechanisms of musicality and the extent to which they are present in non-human species. We argue for the importance of identifying these mechanisms and delineating their functions and developmental course, as well as suggesting effective means of studying them in human and non-human animals. It is virtually impossible to underpin the evolutionary role of musicality as a whole, but a multicomponent perspective on musicality that emphasizes its constituent capacities, development and neural cognitive specificity is an excellent starting point for a research programme aimed at illuminating the origins and evolution of musical behaviour as an autonomous trait. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Tool-use-associated sound in the evolution of language.

PubMed

Larsson, Matz

2015-09-01

Proponents of the motor theory of language evolution have primarily focused on the visual domain and communication through observation of movements. In the present paper, it is hypothesized that the production and perception of sound, particularly of incidental sound of locomotion (ISOL) and tool-use sound (TUS), also contributed. Human bipedalism resulted in rhythmic and more predictable ISOL. It has been proposed that this stimulated the evolution of musical abilities, auditory working memory, and abilities to produce complex vocalizations and to mimic natural sounds. Since the human brain proficiently extracts information about objects and events from the sounds they produce, TUS, and mimicry of TUS, might have achieved an iconic function. The prevalence of sound symbolism in many extant languages supports this idea. Self-produced TUS activates multimodal brain processing (motor neurons, hearing, proprioception, touch, vision), and TUS stimulates primate audiovisual mirror neurons, which is likely to stimulate the development of association chains. Tool use and auditory gestures involve motor processing of the forelimbs, which is associated with the evolution of vertebrate vocal communication. The production, perception, and mimicry of TUS may have resulted in a limited number of vocalizations or protowords that were associated with tool use. A new way to communicate about tools, especially when out of sight, would have had selective advantage. A gradual change in acoustic properties and/or meaning could have resulted in arbitrariness and an expanded repertoire of words. Humans have been increasingly exposed to TUS over millions of years, coinciding with the period during which spoken language evolved. ISOL and tool-use-related sound are worth further exploration.

Motor functioning, exploration, visuospatial cognition and language development in preschool children with autism.

PubMed

Hellendoorn, Annika; Wijnroks, Lex; van Daalen, Emma; Dietz, Claudine; Buitelaar, Jan K; Leseman, Paul

2015-04-01

In order to understand typical and atypical developmental trajectories it is important to assess how strengths or weaknesses in one domain may be affecting performance in other domains. This study examined longitudinal relations between early fine motor functioning, visuospatial cognition, exploration, and language development in preschool children with ASD and children with other developmental delays/disorders. The ASD group included 63 children at T1 (Mage = 27.10 months, SD = 8.71) and 46 children at T2 (Mage = 45.85 months, SD = 7.16). The DD group consisted of 269 children at T1 (Mage = 17.99 months, SD = 5.59), and 121 children at T2 (Mag e= 43.51 months, SD = 3.81). A subgroup nested within the total sample was randomly selected and studied in-depth on exploratory behavior. This group consisted of 50 children, 21 children with ASD (Mage = 27.57, SD = 7.09) and 29 children with DD (Mage = 24.03 months, SD = 6.42). Fine motor functioning predicted language in both groups. Fine motor functioning was related to visuospatial cognition in both groups and related to object exploration, spatial exploration, and social orientation during exploration only in the ASD group. Visuospatial cognition and all exploration measures were related to both receptive and expressive language in both groups. The findings are in line with the embodied cognition theory, which suggests that cognition emerges from and is grounded in the bodily interactions of an agent with the environment. This study emphasizes the need for researchers and clinicians to consider cognition as emergent from multiple interacting systems. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The independent and interacting effects of socioeconomic status and dual-language use on brain structure and cognition.

PubMed

Brito, Natalie H; Noble, Kimberly G

2018-06-07

Family socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly associated with children's cognitive development, and past studies have reported socioeconomic disparities in both neurocognitive skills and brain structure across childhood. In other studies, bilingualism has been associated with cognitive advantages and differences in brain structure across the lifespan. The aim of the current study is to concurrently examine the joint and independent associations between family SES and dual-language use with brain structure and cognitive skills during childhood. A subset of data from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics (PING) study was analyzed; propensity score matching established an equal sample (N = 562) of monolinguals and dual-language users with similar socio-demographic characteristics (M age = 13.5, Range = 3-20 years). When collapsing across all ages, SES was linked to both brain structure and cognitive skills. When examining differences by age group, brain structure was significantly associated with both income and dual-language use during adolescence, but not earlier in childhood. Additionally, in adolescence, a significant interaction between dual-language use and SES was found, with no difference in cortical surface area (SA) between language groups of higher-SES backgrounds but significantly increased SA for dual-language users from lower-SES families compared to SES-matched monolinguals. These results suggest both independent and interacting associations between SES and dual-language use with brain development. To our knowledge, this is the first study to concurrently examine dual-language use and socioeconomic differences in brain structure during childhood and adolescence. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Mirror neuron system as the joint from action to language.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Yuan, Ti-Fei

2008-08-01

Mirror neuron system (MNS) represents one of the most important discoveries of cognitive neuroscience in the past decade, and it has been found to involve in multiple aspects of brain functions including action understanding, imitation, language understanding, empathy, action prediction and speech evolution. This manuscript reviewed the function of MNS in action understanding as well as language evolution, and specifically assessed its roles as the bridge from body language to fluent speeches. Then we discussed the speech defects of autism patients due to the disruption of MNS. Finally, given that MNS is plastic in adult brain, we proposed MNS targeted therapy provides an efficient rehabilitation approach for brain damages conditions as well as autism patients.

Is behavioural flexibility evidence of cognitive complexity? How evolution can inform comparative cognition

PubMed Central

Mikhalevich, Irina

2017-01-01

Behavioural flexibility is often treated as the gold standard of evidence for more sophisticated or complex forms of animal cognition, such as planning, metacognition and mindreading. However, the evidential link between behavioural flexibility and complex cognition has not been explicitly or systematically defended. Such a defence is particularly pressing because observed flexible behaviours can frequently be explained by putatively simpler cognitive mechanisms. This leaves complex cognition hypotheses open to ‘deflationary’ challenges that are accorded greater evidential weight precisely because they offer putatively simpler explanations of equal explanatory power. This paper challenges the blanket preference for simpler explanations, and shows that once this preference is dispensed with, and the full spectrum of evidence—including evolutionary, ecological and phylogenetic data—is accorded its proper weight, an argument in support of the prevailing assumption that behavioural flexibility can serve as evidence for complex cognitive mechanisms may begin to take shape. An adaptive model of cognitive-behavioural evolution is proposed, according to which the existence of convergent trait–environment clusters in phylogenetically disparate lineages may serve as evidence for the same trait–environment clusters in other lineages. This, in turn, could permit inferences of cognitive complexity in cases of experimental underdetermination, thereby placing the common view that behavioural flexibility can serve as evidence for complex cognition on firmer grounds. PMID:28479981

Topology of the conceptual network of language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motter, Adilson E.; de Moura, Alessandro P.; Lai, Ying-Cheng; Dasgupta, Partha

2002-06-01

We define two words in a language to be connected if they express similar concepts. The network of connections among the many thousands of words that make up a language is important not only for the study of the structure and evolution of languages, but also for cognitive science. We study this issue quantitatively, by mapping out the conceptual network of the English language, with the connections being defined by the entries in a Thesaurus dictionary. We find that this network presents a small-world structure, with an amazingly small average shortest path, and appears to exhibit an asymptotic scale-free feature with algebraic connectivity distribution.

Lipreading Ability and Its Cognitive Correlates in Typically Developing Children and Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heikkilä, Jenni; Lonka, Eila; Ahola, Sanna; Meronen, Auli; Tiippana, Kaisa

2017-01-01

Purpose: Lipreading and its cognitive correlates were studied in school-age children with typical language development and delayed language development due to specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Forty-two children with typical language development and 20 children with SLI were tested by using a word-level lipreading test and an extensive…

Language experience differentiates prefrontal and subcortical activation of the cognitive control network in novel word learning.

PubMed

Bradley, Kailyn A L; King, Kelly E; Hernandez, Arturo E

2013-02-15

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive control mechanisms in adult English speaking monolinguals compared to early sequential Spanish-English bilinguals during the initial stages of novel word learning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during a lexico-semantic task after only 2h of exposure to novel German vocabulary flashcards showed that monolinguals activated a broader set of cortical control regions associated with higher-level cognitive processes, including the supplementary motor area (SMA), anterior cingulate (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), as well as the caudate, implicated in cognitive control of language. However, bilinguals recruited a more localized subcortical network that included the putamen, associated more with motor control of language. These results suggest that experience managing multiple languages may differentiate the learning strategy and subsequent neural mechanisms of cognitive control used by bilinguals compared to monolinguals in the early stages of novel word learning. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of hearing loss on language performance in older adults with different stages of cognitive function

PubMed Central

Lodeiro-Fernández, Leire; Lorenzo-López, Laura; Maseda, Ana; Núñez-Naveira, Laura; Rodríguez-Villamil, José Luis; Millán-Calenti, José Carlos

2015-01-01

Purpose The possible relationship between audiometric hearing thresholds and cognitive performance on language tests was analyzed in a cross-sectional cohort of older adults aged ≥65 years (N=98) with different degrees of cognitive impairment. Materials and methods Participants were distributed into two groups according to Reisberg’s Global Deterioration Scale (GDS): a normal/predementia group (GDS scores 1–3) and a moderate/moderately severe dementia group (GDS scores 4 and 5). Hearing loss (pure-tone audiometry) and receptive and production-based language function (Verbal Fluency Test, Boston Naming Test, and Token Test) were assessed. Results Results showed that the dementia group achieved significantly lower scores than the predementia group in all language tests. A moderate negative correlation between hearing loss and verbal comprehension (r=−0.298; P<0.003) was observed in the predementia group (r=−0.363; P<0.007). However, no significant relationship between hearing loss and verbal fluency and naming scores was observed, regardless of cognitive impairment. Conclusion In the predementia group, reduced hearing level partially explains comprehension performance but not language production. In the dementia group, hearing loss cannot be considered as an explanatory factor of poor receptive and production-based language performance. These results are suggestive of cognitive rather than simply auditory problems to explain the language impairment in the elderly. PMID:25914528

Specific aspects of cognitive and language proficiency account for variability in neural indices of semantic and syntactic processing in children.

PubMed

Hampton Wray, Amanda; Weber-Fox, Christine

2013-07-01

The neural activity mediating language processing in young children is characterized by large individual variability that is likely related in part to individual strengths and weakness across various cognitive abilities. The current study addresses the following question: How does proficiency in specific cognitive and language functions impact neural indices mediating language processing in children? Thirty typically developing seven- and eight-year-olds were divided into high-normal and low-normal proficiency groups based on performance on nonverbal IQ, auditory word recall, and grammatical morphology tests. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were elicited by semantic anomalies and phrase structure violations in naturally spoken sentences. The proficiency for each of the specific cognitive and language tasks uniquely contributed to specific aspects (e.g., timing and/or resource allocation) of neural indices underlying semantic (N400) and syntactic (P600) processing. These results suggest that distinct aptitudes within broader domains of cognition and language, even within the normal range, influence the neural signatures of semantic and syntactic processing. Furthermore, the current findings have important implications for the design and interpretation of developmental studies of ERPs indexing language processing, and they highlight the need to take into account cognitive abilities both within and outside the classic language domain. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Phenotypes and the Evolution of Animal Decisions.

PubMed

Mendelson, Tamra C; Fitzpatrick, Courtney L; Hauber, Mark E; Pence, Charles H; Rodríguez, Rafael L; Safran, Rebecca J; Stern, Caitlin A; Stevens, Jeffrey R

2016-11-01

Despite the clear fitness consequences of animal decisions, the science of animal decision making in evolutionary biology is underdeveloped compared with decision science in human psychology. Specifically, the field lacks a conceptual framework that defines and describes the relevant components of a decision, leading to imprecise language and concepts. The 'judgment and decision-making' (JDM) framework in human psychology is a powerful tool for framing and understanding human decisions, and we apply it here to components of animal decisions, which we refer to as 'cognitive phenotypes'. We distinguish multiple cognitive phenotypes in the context of a JDM framework and highlight empirical approaches to characterize them as evolvable traits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Can One Learn Mathematical Word Problems in a Second Language? A Cognitive Load Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moussa-Inaty, Jase; Causapin, Mark; Groombridge, Timothy

2015-01-01

Language may ordinarily account for difficulties in solving word problems and this is particularly true if mathematical word problems are taught in a language other than one's native language. Research into cognitive load may offer a clear theoretical framework when investigating word problems because memory, specifically working memory, plays a…

Knowledge and implicature: modeling language understanding as social cognition.

PubMed

Goodman, Noah D; Stuhlmüller, Andreas

2013-01-01

Is language understanding a special case of social cognition? To help evaluate this view, we can formalize it as the rational speech-act theory: Listeners assume that speakers choose their utterances approximately optimally, and listeners interpret an utterance by using Bayesian inference to "invert" this model of the speaker. We apply this framework to model scalar implicature ("some" implies "not all," and "N" implies "not more than N"). This model predicts an interaction between the speaker's knowledge state and the listener's interpretation. We test these predictions in two experiments and find good fit between model predictions and human judgments. Copyright © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Exploring Flipped Classroom Effects on Second Language Learners' Cognitive Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jeong-eun; Park, Hyunjin; Jang, Mijung; Nam, Hosung

2017-01-01

This study investigated the cognitive effects of the flipped classroom approach in a content-based instructional context by comparing second language learners' discourse in flipped vs. traditional classrooms in terms of (1) participation rate, (2) content of comments, (3) reasoning skills, and (4) interactional patterns. Learners in two intact…

Selection to outsmart the germs: The evolution of disease recognition and social cognition.

PubMed

Kessler, Sharon E; Bonnell, Tyler R; Byrne, Richard W; Chapman, Colin A

2017-07-01

The emergence of providing care to diseased conspecifics must have been a turning point during the evolution of hominin sociality. On a population level, care may have minimized the costs of socially transmitted diseases at a time of increasing social complexity, although individual care-givers probably incurred increased transmission risks. We propose that care-giving likely originated within kin networks, where the costs may have been balanced by fitness increases obtained through caring for ill kin. We test a novel hypothesis of hominin cognitive evolution in which disease may have selected for the cognitive ability to recognize when a conspecific is infected. Because diseases may produce symptoms that are likely detectable via the perceptual-cognitive pathways integral to social cognition, we suggest that disease recognition and social cognition may have evolved together. Using agent-based modeling, we test 1) under what conditions disease can select for increasing disease recognition and care-giving among kin, 2) whether providing care produces greater selection for cognition than an avoidance strategy, and 3) whether care-giving alters the progression of the disease through the population. The greatest selection was produced by diseases with lower risks to the care-giver and prevalences low enough not to disrupt the kin networks. When care-giving and avoidance strategies were compared, only care-giving reduced the severity of the disease outbreaks and subsequent population crashes. The greatest selection for increased cognitive abilities occurred early in the model runs when the outbreaks and population crashes were most severe. Therefore, over the course of human evolution, repeated introductions of novel diseases into naïve populations could have produced sustained selection for increased disease recognition and care-giving behavior, leading to the evolution of increased cognition, social complexity, and, eventually, medical care in humans. Finally, we lay

Early cognitive and language skills are linked to resting frontal gamma power across the first 3 years.

PubMed

Benasich, April A; Gou, Zhenkun; Choudhury, Naseem; Harris, Kenneth D

2008-12-22

High-frequency cortical activity in humans and animals has been linked to a wide variety of higher cognitive processes. This research suggests that specific changes in neuronal synchrony occur during cognitive processing, distinguished by emergence of fast oscillations in the gamma frequency range. To determine whether the development of high-frequency brain oscillations can be related to the development of cognitive abilities, we studied the power spectra of resting EEG in children 16, 24 and 36 months of age. Individual differences in the distribution of frontal gamma power during rest were highly correlated with concurrent language and cognitive skills at all ages. Gamma power was also associated with attention measures; children who were observed as having better inhibitory control and more mature attention shifting abilities had higher gamma power density functions. We included a group of children with a family history of language impairment (FH+) and thus at higher risk for language disorders. FH+ children, as a group, showed consistently lower gamma over frontal regions than the well-matched FH- controls with no such family history (FH-). We suggest that the emergence of high-frequency neural synchrony may be critical for cognitive and linguistic development, and that children at risk for language impairments may lag in this process.

Foreign Language Achievement in Relation to Student-Teacher Cognitive Styles: A Preliminary Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Jacqueline; Stansfield, Charles

Research has shown student field-independent cognitive style (FI), as opposed to field-dependent cognitive style (FD), to be correlated moderately with success on selected second language tasks. A trait-treatment interaction approach was utilized in this study to examine the role of FD/I among 236 college students enrolled in six sections of an…

Cognitive load of navigating without vision when guided by virtual sound versus spatial language.

PubMed

Klatzky, Roberta L; Marston, James R; Giudice, Nicholas A; Golledge, Reginald G; Loomis, Jack M

2006-12-01

A vibrotactile N-back task was used to generate cognitive load while participants were guided along virtual paths without vision. As participants stepped in place, they moved along a virtual path of linear segments. Information was provided en route about the direction of the next turning point, by spatial language ("left," "right," or "straight") or virtual sound (i.e., the perceived azimuth of the sound indicated the target direction). The authors hypothesized that virtual sound, being processed at direct perceptual levels, would have lower load than even simple language commands, which require cognitive mediation. As predicted, whereas the guidance modes did not differ significantly in the no-load condition, participants showed shorter distance traveled and less time to complete a path when performing the N-back task while navigating with virtual sound as guidance. Virtual sound also produced better N-back performance than spatial language. By indicating the superiority of virtual sound for guidance when cognitive load is present, as is characteristic of everyday navigation, these results have implications for guidance systems for the visually impaired and others.

An arms race between producers and scroungers can drive the evolution of social cognition

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The “social intelligence hypothesis” states that the need to cope with complexities of social life has driven the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities. It is usually invoked in the context of challenges arising from complex intragroup structures, hierarchies, and alliances. However, a fundamental aspect of group living remains largely unexplored as a driving force in cognitive evolution: the competition between individuals searching for resources (producers) and conspecifics that parasitize their findings (scroungers). In populations of social foragers, abilities that enable scroungers to steal by outsmarting producers, and those allowing producers to prevent theft by outsmarting scroungers, are likely to be beneficial and may fuel a cognitive arms race. Using analytical theory and agent-based simulations, we present a general model for such a race that is driven by the producer–scrounger game and show that the race’s plausibility is dramatically affected by the nature of the evolving abilities. If scrounging and scrounging avoidance rely on separate, strategy-specific cognitive abilities, arms races are short-lived and have a limited effect on cognition. However, general cognitive abilities that facilitate both scrounging and scrounging avoidance undergo stable, long-lasting arms races. Thus, ubiquitous foraging interactions may lead to the evolution of general cognitive abilities in social animals, without the requirement of complex intragroup structures. PMID:24822021

Developmental Trajectories in Siblings of Children with Autism: Cognition and Language from 4 Months to 7 Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gamliel, Ifat; Yirmiya, Nurit; Jaffe, Dena H.; Manor, Orly; Sigman, Marian

2009-01-01

We compared the cognitive and language development at 4, 14, 24, 36, 54 months, and 7 years of siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) to that of siblings of children with typical development (SIBS-TD) using growth curve analyses. At 7 years, 40% of the SIBS-A, compared to 16% of SIBS-TD, were identified with cognitive, language and/or academic…

Language Measures of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery

PubMed Central

Gershon, Richard C.; Cook, Karon F.; Mungas, Dan; Manly, Jennifer J.; Slotkin, Jerry; Beaumont, Jennifer L.; Weintraub, Sandra

2015-01-01

Language facilitates communication and efficient encoding of thought and experience. Because of its essential role in early childhood development, in educational achievement and in subsequent life adaptation, language was included as one of the subdomains in the NIH Toolbox for the Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB). There are many different components of language functioning, including syntactic processing (i.e., morphology and grammar) and lexical semantics. For purposes of the NIHTB-CB, two tests of language—a picture vocabulary test and a reading recognition test—were selected by consensus based on literature reviews, iterative expert input, and a desire to assess in English and Spanish. NIHTB-CB’s picture vocabulary and reading recognition tests are administered using computer adaptive testing and scored using item response theory. Data are presented from the validation of the English versions in a sample of adults ages 20–85 years (Spanish results will be presented in a future publication). Both tests demonstrated high test–retest reliability and good construct validity compared to corresponding gold-standard measures. Scores on the NIH Toolbox measures were consistent with age-related expectations, namely, growth in language during early development, with relative stabilization into late adulthood. PMID:24960128

Extending network approach to language dynamics and human cognition. Comment on "Approaching human language with complex networks" by Cong and Liu

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Tao; Shuai, Lan; Wu, Yicheng

2014-12-01

By analyzing complex networks constructed from authentic language data, Cong and Liu [1] advance linguistics research into the big data era. The network approach has revealed many intrinsic generalities and crucial differences at both the macro and micro scales between human languages. The axiom behind this research is that language is a complex adaptive system [2]. Although many lexical, semantic, or syntactic features have been discovered by means of analyzing the static and dynamic linguistic networks of world languages, available network-based language studies have not explicitly addressed the evolutionary dynamics of language systems and the correlations between language and human cognition. This commentary aims to provide some insights on how to use the network approach to study these issues.

The Relationship between Central Auditory Processing, Language, and Cognition in Children Being Evaluated for Central Auditory Processing Disorder.

PubMed

Brenneman, Lauren; Cash, Elizabeth; Chermak, Gail D; Guenette, Linda; Masters, Gay; Musiek, Frank E; Brown, Mallory; Ceruti, Julianne; Fitzegerald, Krista; Geissler, Kristin; Gonzalez, Jennifer; Weihing, Jeffrey

2017-09-01

Pediatric central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is frequently comorbid with other childhood disorders. However, few studies have examined the relationship between commonly used CAPD, language, and cognition tests within the same sample. The present study examined the relationship between diagnostic CAPD tests and "gold standard" measures of language and cognitive ability, the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). A retrospective study. Twenty-seven patients referred for CAPD testing who scored average or better on the CELF and low average or better on the WISC were initially included. Seven children who scored below the CELF and/or WISC inclusion criteria were then added to the dataset for a second analysis, yielding a sample size of 34. Participants were administered a CAPD battery that included at least the following three CAPD tests: Frequency Patterns (FP), Dichotic Digits (DD), and Competing Sentences (CS). In addition, they were administered the CELF and WISC. Relationships between scores on CAPD, language (CELF), and cognition (WISC) tests were examined using correlation analysis. DD and FP showed significant correlations with Full Scale Intelligence Quotient, and the DD left ear and the DD interaural difference measures both showed significant correlations with working memory. However, ∼80% or more of the variance in these CAPD tests was unexplained by language and cognition measures. Language and cognition measures were more strongly correlated with each other than were the CAPD tests with any CELF or WISC scale. Additional correlations with the CAPD tests were revealed when patients who scored in the mild-moderate deficit range on the CELF and/or in the borderline low intellectual functioning range on the WISC were included in the analysis. While both the DD and FP tests showed significant correlations with one or more cognition measures, the majority of the variance in these

Language Teacher Cognition in Applied Linguistics Research: Revisiting the Territory, Redrawing the Boundaries, Reclaiming the Relevance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kubanyiova, Magdalena; Feryok, Anne

2015-01-01

Understanding language teachers' "mental lives" (Walberg, 1972), and how these shape and are shaped by the activity of language teaching in diverse sociocultural contexts, has been at the forefront of the sub discipline of applied linguistics that has become known as "language teacher cognition." Although the collective…

Ape gestures and language evolution

PubMed Central

Pollick, Amy S.; de Waal, Frans B. M.

2007-01-01

The natural communication of apes may hold clues about language origins, especially because apes frequently gesture with limbs and hands, a mode of communication thought to have been the starting point of human language evolution. The present study aimed to contrast brachiomanual gestures with orofacial movements and vocalizations in the natural communication of our closest primate relatives, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). We tested whether gesture is the more flexible form of communication by measuring the strength of association between signals and specific behavioral contexts, comparing groups of both the same and different ape species. Subjects were two captive bonobo groups, a total of 13 individuals, and two captive chimpanzee groups, a total of 34 individuals. The study distinguished 31 manual gestures and 18 facial/vocal signals. It was found that homologous facial/vocal displays were used very similarly by both ape species, yet the same did not apply to gestures. Both within and between species gesture usage varied enormously. Moreover, bonobos showed greater flexibility in this regard than chimpanzees and were also the only species in which multimodal communication (i.e., combinations of gestures and facial/vocal signals) added to behavioral impact on the recipient. PMID:17470779

Evolution of brain and culture: the neurological and cognitive journey from Australopithecus to Albert Einstein.

PubMed

Falk, Dean

2016-06-20

Fossil and comparative primatological evidence suggest that alterations in the development of prehistoric hominin infants kindled three consecutive evolutionary-developmental (evo-devo) trends that, ultimately, paved the way for the evolution of the human brain and cognition. In the earliest trend, infants' development of posture and locomotion became delayed because of anatomical changes that accompanied the prolonged evolution of bipedalism. Because modern humans have inherited these changes, our babies are much slower than other primates to reach developmental milestones such as standing, crawling, and walking. The delay in ancestral babies' physical development eventually precipitated an evolutionary reversal in which they became increasing unable to cling independently to their mothers. For the first time in prehistory, babies were, thus, periodically deprived of direct physical contact with their mothers. This prompted the emergence of a second evo-devo trend in which infants sought contact comfort from caregivers using evolved signals, including new ways of crying that are conserved in modern babies. Such signaling stimulated intense reciprocal interactions between prehistoric mothers and infants that seeded the eventual emergence of motherese and, subsequently, protolanguage. The third trend was for an extreme acceleration in brain growth that began prior to the last trimester of gestation and continued through infants' first postnatal year (early "brain spurt"). Conservation of this trend in modern babies explains why human brains reach adult sizes that are over three times those of chimpanzees. The fossil record of hominin cranial capacities together with comparative neuroanatomical data suggest that, around 3 million years ago, early brain spurts began to facilitate an evolutionary trajectory for increasingly large adult brains in association with neurological reorganization. The prehistoric increase in brain size eventually caused parturition to become

Thinking outside the Cortex: Social Motivation in the Evolution and Development of Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Syal, Supriya; Finlay, Barbara L.

2011-01-01

Alteration of the organization of social and motivational neuroanatomical circuitry must have been an essential step in the evolution of human language. Development of vocal communication across species, particularly birdsong, and new research on the neural organization and evolution of social and motivational circuitry, together suggest that…

Japanese-English language equivalence of the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument among Japanese-Americans.

PubMed

Gibbons, Laura E; McCurry, Susan; Rhoads, Kristoffer; Masaki, Kamal; White, Lon; Borenstein, Amy R; Larson, Eric B; Crane, Paul K

2009-02-01

The Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) was designed for use in cross-cultural studies of Japanese and Japanese-American elderly in Japan and the U.S.A. The measurement equivalence in Japanese and English had not been confirmed in prior studies. We analyzed the 40 CASI items for differential item functioning (DIF) related to test language, as well as self-reported proficiency with written Japanese, age, and educational attainment in two large epidemiologic studies of Japanese-American elderly: the Kame Project (n=1708) and the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS; n = 3148). DIF was present if the demographic groups differed in the probability of success on an item, after controlling for their underlying cognitive functioning ability. While seven CASI items had DIF related to language of testing in Kame (registration of one item; recall of one item; similes; judgment; repeating a phrase; reading and performing a command; and following a three-step instruction), the impact of DIF on participants' scores was minimal. Mean scores for Japanese and English speakers in Kame changed by <0.1 SD after accounting for DIF related to test language. In HAAS, insufficient numbers of participants were tested in Japanese to assess DIF related to test language. In both studies, DIF related to written Japanese proficiency, age, and educational attainment had minimal impact. To the extent that DIF could be assessed, the CASI appeared to meet the goal of measuring cognitive function equivalently in Japanese and English. Stratified data collection would be needed to confirm this conclusion. DIF assessment should be used in other studies with multiple language groups to confirm that measures function equivalently or, if not, form scores that account for DIF.

Profiles of Academic Achievement and Cognitive Processing in College Students with Foreign Language Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prevatt, Frances; Proctor, Briley; Swartz, Stacy L.; Canto, Angela I.

2003-01-01

This study evaluated the cognitive and achievement profiles of college students experiencing difficulties in foreign language (FLD group). Because past research appears to have generated different results based on the type of comparison groups utilized, we attempted to obtain a better representation of students with foreign language difficulties.…

Direct and Mediated Effects of Language and Cognitive Skills on Comprehension or Oral Narrative Texts (Listening Comprehension) for Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2016-01-01

We investigated component language and cognitive skills of oral language comprehension of narrative texts (i.e., listening comprehension). Using the construction--integration model of text comprehension as an overarching theoretical framework, we examined direct and mediated relations of foundational cognitive skills (working memory and…

The neurophysiology of language processing shapes the evolution of grammar: evidence from case marking.

PubMed

Bickel, Balthasar; Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena; Choudhary, Kamal K; Schlesewsky, Matthias; Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina

2015-01-01

Do principles of language processing in the brain affect the way grammar evolves over time or is language change just a matter of socio-historical contingency? While the balance of evidence has been ambiguous and controversial, we identify here a neurophysiological constraint on the processing of language that has a systematic effect on the evolution of how noun phrases are marked by case (i.e. by such contrasts as between the English base form she and the object form her). In neurophysiological experiments across diverse languages we found that during processing, participants initially interpret the first base-form noun phrase they hear (e.g. she…) as an agent (which would fit a continuation like … greeted him), even when the sentence later requires the interpretation of a patient role (as in … was greeted). We show that this processing principle is also operative in Hindi, a language where initial base-form noun phrases most commonly denote patients because many agents receive a special case marker ("ergative") and are often left out in discourse. This finding suggests that the principle is species-wide and independent of the structural affordances of specific languages. As such, the principle favors the development and maintenance of case-marking systems that equate base-form cases with agents rather than with patients. We confirm this evolutionary bias by statistical analyses of phylogenetic signals in over 600 languages worldwide, controlling for confounding effects from language contact. Our findings suggest that at least one core property of grammar systematically adapts in its evolution to the neurophysiological conditions of the brain, independently of socio-historical factors. This opens up new avenues for understanding how specific properties of grammar have developed in tight interaction with the biological evolution of our species.

Cognitive Load Theory: An Empirical Study of Anxiety and Task Performance in Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, I-Jung; Chang, Chi-Cheng

2009-01-01

Introduction: This study explores the relationship among three variables--cognitive load, foreign language anxiety, and task performance. Cognitive load refers to the load imposed on working memory while performing a particular task. The authors hypothesized that anxiety consumes the resources of working memory, leaving less capacity for cognitive…

Communication and cognition: the social beyond language, interaction and culture.

PubMed

Mascareño, Aldo

2008-06-01

Cognition theories describe the social with terms like language, interaction or culture, whose theoretical status has also been discussed in modern sociology. These concepts are not well-positioned to understand the emergence and autonomy of social orders. Sociological theory of self-referential systems can be useful to reconstruct the bottom-up process which contributes to the emergence of the social as communication as well as to describe the way in which society exerts downward causation upon cognitive phenomena. The core of this theory is the systemic category of meaning as a shared horizon for psychic and social systems.

Utility of the Psychoeducational Profile-3 for Assessing Cognitive and Language Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fulton, Mandy L.; D'Entremont, Barbara

2013-01-01

The Psychoeducational Profile-3's (PEP-3) ability to estimate cognitive and language skills of 136 children (20-75 months) with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) across a range of functioning, and the association between the PEP-3 and ASD symptomatology was examined using retrospective data. PEP-3 cognitive and language measures were positively…

Mirror neurons and the social nature of language: the neural exploitation hypothesis.

PubMed

Gallese, Vittorio

2008-01-01

This paper discusses the relevance of the discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys and of the mirror neuron system in humans to a neuroscientific account of primates' social cognition and its evolution. It is proposed that mirror neurons and the functional mechanism they underpin, embodied simulation, can ground within a unitary neurophysiological explanatory framework important aspects of human social cognition. In particular, the main focus is on language, here conceived according to a neurophenomenological perspective, grounding meaning on the social experience of action. A neurophysiological hypothesis--the "neural exploitation hypothesis"--is introduced to explain how key aspects of human social cognition are underpinned by brain mechanisms originally evolved for sensorimotor integration. It is proposed that these mechanisms were later on adapted as new neurofunctional architecture for thought and language, while retaining their original functions as well. By neural exploitation, social cognition and language can be linked to the experiential domain of action.

State-dependent cognition and its relevance to cultural evolution.

PubMed

Nettle, Daniel

2018-02-05

Individuals cope with their worlds by using information. In humans in particular, an important potential source of information is cultural tradition. Evolutionary models have examined when it is advantageous to use cultural information, and psychological studies have examined the cognitive biases and priorities that may transform cultural traditions over time. However, these studies have not generally incorporated the idea that individuals vary in state. I argue that variation in state is likely to influence the relative payoffs of using cultural information versus gathering personal information; and also that people in different states will have different cognitive biases and priorities, leading them to transform cultural information in different ways. I explore hunger as one example of state variable likely to have consequences for cultural evolution. Variation in state has the potential to explain why cultural traditions and dynamics are so variable between individuals and populations. It offers evolutionarily-grounded links between the ecology in which individuals live, individual-level cognitive processes, and patterns of culture. However, incorporating heterogeneity of state also makes the modelling of cultural evolution more complex, particularly if the distribution of states is itself influenced by the distribution of cultural beliefs and practices. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cognitive and Neural Prerequisites for Time in Language: Any Answers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gullberg, Marianne; Indefrey, Peter

2008-01-01

In the position article to this volume, Klein outlines a set of questions that are relevant for furthering the linguist's understanding of what the cognitive and neural prerequisites for time in language might be. He also declares a certain skepticism regarding the likelihood that new methods from other disciplines will provide answers to those…

From Domain Specific Languages to DEVS Components: Application to Cognitive M&S

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

AND SUBTITLE From Domain Specific Languages to DEVS Components: Application to Cognitive M&S 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ...that is devoid of any DEVS and programming language constructs (Figure 4). The key idea being domain specialists need not delve in the DEVS world to...DSL. DSLs can be created using many available tools and technologies such as: Generic Modeling Environment (GME) [23], Xtext, Ruby, Scala and many

The Language, Working Memory, and Other Cognitive Demands of Verbal Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archibald, Lisa M. D.

2013-01-01

Purpose: To gain a better understanding of the cognitive processes supporting verbal abilities, the underlying structure and interrelationships between common verbal measures were investigated. Methods: An epidemiological sample (n = 374) of school-aged children completed standardized tests of language, intelligence, and short-term and working…

Molecular networks and the evolution of human cognitive specializations.

PubMed

Fontenot, Miles; Konopka, Genevieve

2014-12-01

Inroads into elucidating the origins of human cognitive specializations have taken many forms, including genetic, genomic, anatomical, and behavioral assays that typically compare humans to non-human primates. While the integration of all of these approaches is essential for ultimately understanding human cognition, here, we review the usefulness of coexpression network analysis for specifically addressing this question. An increasing number of studies have incorporated coexpression networks into brain expression studies comparing species, disease versus control tissue, brain regions, or developmental time periods. A clearer picture has emerged of the key genes driving brain evolution, as well as the developmental and regional contributions of gene expression patterns important for normal brain development and those misregulated in cognitive diseases. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A more randomly organized grey matter network is associated with deteriorating language and global cognition in individuals with subjective cognitive decline.

PubMed

Verfaillie, Sander C J; Slot, Rosalinde E R; Dicks, Ellen; Prins, Niels D; Overbeek, Jozefien M; Teunissen, Charlotte E; Scheltens, Philip; Barkhof, Frederik; van der Flier, Wiesje M; Tijms, Betty M

2018-03-30

Grey matter network disruptions in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with worse cognitive impairment cross-sectionally. Our aim was to investigate whether indications of a more random network organization are associated with longitudinal decline in specific cognitive functions in individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). We included 231 individuals with SCD who had annually repeated neuropsychological assessment (3 ± 1 years; n = 646 neuropsychological investigations) available from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort (54% male, age: 63 ± 9, MMSE: 28 ± 2). Single-subject grey matter networks were extracted from baseline 3D-T1 MRI scans and we computed basic network (size, degree, connectivity density) and higher-order (path length, clustering, betweenness centrality, normalized path length [lambda] and normalized clustering [gamma]) parameters at whole brain and/or regional levels. We tested associations of network parameters with baseline and annual cognition (memory, attention, executive functioning, language composite scores, and global cognition [all domains with MMSE]) using linear mixed models, adjusted for age, sex, education, scanner and total gray matter volume. Lower network size was associated with steeper decline in language (β ± SE = 0.12 ± 0.05, p < 0.05FDR). Higher-order network parameters showed no cross-sectional associations. Lower gamma and lambda values were associated with steeper decline in global cognition (gamma: β ± SE = 0.06 ± 0.02); lambda: β ± SE = 0.06 ± 0.02), language (gamma: β ± SE = 0.11 ± 0.04; lambda: β ± SE = 0.12 ± 0.05; all p < 0.05FDR). Lower path length values in precuneus and fronto-temporo-occipital cortices were associated with a steeper decline in global cognition. A more randomly organized grey matter network was associated with a steeper decline of cognitive functioning, possibly indicating the start of

Cognitive and language performance in children is associated with maternal social anxiety disorder: A study of young mothers in southern Brazil.

PubMed

Castelli, Rochele Dias; Quevedo, Luciana de Ávila; Coelho, Fábio Monteiro da Cunha; Lopez, Mariane Acosta; da Silva, Ricardo Azevedo; Böhm, Denise Müller; Souza, Luciano Dias de Mattos; de Matos, Mariana Bonati; Pinheiro, Karen Amaral Tavares; Pinheiro, Ricardo Tavares

2015-12-01

It has been shown that maternal mental health is associated with poorer skills development in the offspring. However, the evidence evaluating the association between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and cognitive or language development, is scarce. To evaluate the association between maternal SAD and performance in cognitive and language tests in 30-month old children. This was a cohort study involving young women evaluated since pregnancy. We evaluated 520 mother-child dyads who received prenatal medical assistance through the National Public Health System in a southern Brazilian city, from October 2009 to March 2011. We used the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus (MINI Plus) to assess SAD among young mothers. Cognitive and language performance in their offspring was analyzed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - 3rd Edition. We found an association between maternal SAD and performance in cognitive and language tests. Children of mothers with SAD had in average 4.5 less points in the Bayley scale, when compared to those with mothers without SAD: in the cognitive (β=-4.53 [95% CI -7.8; -1.1] p=0.008) and language subscales (β=-4.54 [95% CI -9.0; -0.5] p=0.047). Our findings suggest that children with mothers suffering from SAD have poorer cognitive abilities and language skills. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning about primates' learning, language, and cognition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rumbaugh, Duane M.

1992-01-01

Results are presented of many years of research on the methods of teaching primates the language and cognitive skills which were long considered to be unteachable to particular species of primates. It was found that chimpanzee subjects could not only learn a number of 'stock sentences' but to use them in variations and several combinations for the purpose of solving various problems. Apes placed in different rooms could be taught to communicate via computer, and collaborate with each other on doing specific tasks. Contrary to expectations, young rhesus monkeys proved to be able to learn as much as the chimpanzee species.

Thinking and Content Learning of Mathematics and Science as Cognitional Development in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): Teaching Through a Foreign Language in Finland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jappinen, Aini-Kristiina

2005-01-01

This paper presents a study on thinking and learning processes of mathematics and science in teaching through a foreign language, in Finland. The entity of thinking and content learning processes is, in this study, considered as cognitional development. Teaching through a foreign language is here called Content and Language Integrated Learning or…

The Inseparability of Cognition and Emotion in Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swain, Merrill

2013-01-01

The scholarly literature about the process of second language (L2) learning has focused to a considerable extent on cognitive processes. Left aside are questions about how emotions fit into an understanding of L2 learning. One goal of this plenary is to demonstrate that we have limited our understanding of L2 learning by failing to take into…

Fantasy Play, Language and Cognitive Ability of Four-Year-Old Children in Guyana, South America.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taharally, L. C.

1991-01-01

Investigates the effect of stimulation of fantasy play on the level of symbolic play, language, and cognitive ability of four-year olds in Guyanan nursery schools. Concludes that provision of opportunities for fantasy play can have positive effects on symbolic play and language. (Author/BB)

The Effects of Home-Based Cognitive Training on Verbal Working Memory and Language Comprehension in Older Adulthood

PubMed Central

Payne, Brennan R.; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A. L.

2017-01-01

Effective language understanding is crucial to maintaining cognitive abilities and learning new information through adulthood. However, age-related declines in working memory (WM) have a robust negative influence on multiple aspects of language comprehension and use, potentially limiting communicative competence. In the current study (N = 41), we examined the effects of a novel home-based computerized cognitive training program targeting verbal WM on changes in verbal WM and language comprehension in healthy older adults relative to an active component-control group. Participants in the WM training group showed non-linear improvements in performance on trained verbal WM tasks. Relative to the active control group, WM training participants also showed improvements on untrained verbal WM tasks and selective improvements across untrained dimensions of language, including sentence memory, verbal fluency, and comprehension of syntactically ambiguous sentences. Though the current study is preliminary in nature, it does provide initial promising evidence that WM training may influence components of language comprehension in adulthood and suggests that home-based training of WM may be a viable option for probing the scope and limits of cognitive plasticity in older adults. PMID:28848421

The Effects of Home-Based Cognitive Training on Verbal Working Memory and Language Comprehension in Older Adulthood.

PubMed

Payne, Brennan R; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2017-01-01

Effective language understanding is crucial to maintaining cognitive abilities and learning new information through adulthood. However, age-related declines in working memory (WM) have a robust negative influence on multiple aspects of language comprehension and use, potentially limiting communicative competence. In the current study ( N = 41), we examined the effects of a novel home-based computerized cognitive training program targeting verbal WM on changes in verbal WM and language comprehension in healthy older adults relative to an active component-control group. Participants in the WM training group showed non-linear improvements in performance on trained verbal WM tasks. Relative to the active control group, WM training participants also showed improvements on untrained verbal WM tasks and selective improvements across untrained dimensions of language, including sentence memory, verbal fluency, and comprehension of syntactically ambiguous sentences. Though the current study is preliminary in nature, it does provide initial promising evidence that WM training may influence components of language comprehension in adulthood and suggests that home-based training of WM may be a viable option for probing the scope and limits of cognitive plasticity in older adults.

Form and Function in the Evolution of Grammar.

PubMed

Newmeyer, Frederick J

2017-03-01

This article focuses on claims about the origin and evolution of language from the point of view of the formalist-functionalist debate in linguistics. In linguistics, an account of a grammatical phenomenon is considered "formal" if it accords center stage to the structural properties of that phenomenon, and "functional" if it appeals to the language user's communicative needs or to domain-general human capacities. The gulf between formalism and functionalism has been bridged in language evolution research, in that some leading formalists, Ray Jackendoff for one, appeal to functional mechanisms such as natural selection. In Jackendoff's view, the biological evolution of language has proceeded in stages, each stage improving communicative efficiency. This article calls into question that idea, pointing to the fact that well-understood purely historical processes suffice to explain the emergence of many grammatical properties. However, one central aspect of formalist linguistic theorizing-the idea of the autonomy of syntax-poses a challenge to the idea, central to most functionalist approaches, that the nature of grammar is a product of purely historical (as opposed to biological) evolution. The article concludes with a discussion of the origins of the autonomy of syntax, speculating that it may well have arisen over evolutionary (as opposed to historical) time. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Bilingual Language Control and General Purpose Cognitive Control among Individuals with Bilingual Aphasia: Evidence Based on Negative Priming and Flanker Tasks

PubMed Central

Dash, Tanya; Kar, Bhoomika R.

2014-01-01

Background. Bilingualism results in an added advantage with respect to cognitive control. The interaction between bilingual language control and general purpose cognitive control systems can also be understood by studying executive control among individuals with bilingual aphasia. Objectives. The current study examined the subcomponents of cognitive control in bilingual aphasia. A case study approach was used to investigate whether cognitive control and language control are two separate systems and how factors related to bilingualism interact with control processes. Methods. Four individuals with bilingual aphasia performed a language background questionnaire, picture description task, and two experimental tasks (nonlinguistic negative priming task and linguistic and nonlinguistic versions of flanker task). Results. A descriptive approach was used to analyse the data using reaction time and accuracy measures. The cumulative distribution function plots were used to visualize the variations in performance across conditions. The results highlight the distinction between general purpose cognitive control and bilingual language control mechanisms. Conclusion. All participants showed predominant use of the reactive control mechanism to compensate for the limited resources system. Independent yet interactive systems for bilingual language control and general purpose cognitive control were postulated based on the experimental data derived from individuals with bilingual aphasia. PMID:24982591

The evolution of the Faculty of Language from a Chomskyan perspective: bridging linguistics and biology.

PubMed

Longa, Victor Manuel

2013-01-01

While language was traditionally considered a purely cultural trait, the advent of Noam Chomsky's Generative Grammar in the second half of the twentieth century dramatically challenged that view. According to that theory, language is an innate feature, part of the human biological endowment. If language is indeed innate, it had to biologically evolve. This review has two main objectives: firstly, it characterizes from a Chomskyan perspective the evolutionary processes by which language could have come into being. Secondly, it proposes a new method for interpreting the archaeological record that radically differs from the usual types of evidence Paleoanthropology has concentrated on when dealing with language evolution: while archaeological remains have usually been regarded from the view of the behavior they could be associated with, the paper will consider archaeological remains from the view of the computational processes and capabilities at work for their production. This computational approach, illustrated with a computational analysis of prehistoric geometric engravings, will be used to challenge the usual generative thinking on language evolution, based on the high specificity of language. The paper argues that the biological machinery of language is neither specifically linguistic nor specifically human, although language itself can still be considered a species-specific innate trait. From such a view, language would be one of the consequences of a slight modification operated on an ancestral architecture shared with vertebrates.

On Religion and Language Evolutions Seen Through Mathematical and Agent Based Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ausloos, M.

Religions and languages are social variables, like age, sex, wealth or political opinions, to be studied like any other organizational parameter. In fact, religiosity is one of the most important sociological aspects of populations. Languages are also obvious characteristics of the human species. Religions, languages appear though also disappear. All religions and languages evolve and survive when they adapt to the society developments. On the other hand, the number of adherents of a given religion, or the number of persons speaking a language is not fixed in time, - nor space. Several questions can be raised. E.g. from a oscopic point of view : How many religions/languages exist at a given time? What is their distribution? What is their life time? How do they evolve? From a "microscopic" view point: can one invent agent based models to describe oscopic aspects? Do simple evolution equations exist? How complicated must be a model? These aspects are considered in the present note. Basic evolution equations are outlined and critically, though briefly, discussed. Similarities and differences between religions and languages are summarized. Cases can be illustrated with historical facts and data. It is stressed that characteristic time scales are different. It is emphasized that "external fields" are historically very relevant in the case of religions, rending the study more " interesting" within a mechanistic approach based on parity and symmetry of clusters concepts. Yet the modern description of human societies through networks in reported simulations is still lacking some mandatory ingredients, i.e. the non scalar nature of the nodes, and the non binary aspects of nodes and links, though for the latter this is already often taken into account, including directions. From an analytical point of view one can consider a population independently of the others. It is intuitively accepted, but also found from the statistical analysis of the frequency distribution that an

Teacher Language Awareness and Cognitive Linguistics (CL): Building a CL-Inspired Perspective on Teaching Lexis in EFL Student Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giebler, Ralf

2012-01-01

It has been suggested recently that it may be useful for language teaching practitioners to have some knowledge of cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguistics (CL) provides tools that may help the language-teaching practitioner to gain insight into the semantic potential of words and communicate the meaning of lexical chunks in greater detail…

The modern era of research on language evolution: Moving forward. Comment on "Towards a computational comparative neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stout, Dietrich

2016-03-01

Twenty-five years ago, Pinker and Bloom [1] helped reinvigorate research on language evolution by arguing that language ;shows signs of complex design for the communication of propositional structures, and the only explanation for the origin of organs with complex design is the process of natural selection.; Since then, empirical research has tested the assertions of (cross-cultural) universality, (cross-species) uniqueness, and (cross-domain) specificity underpinning this argument from design. Appearances aside, points of consensus have emerged. The existence of a core computational and neural substrate unique to language and/or humans is still debated, but it is widely agreed that: 1) human language performance overlaps with behaviors in other domains and species, and 2) such general, pre-existing capacities provided the context for language-specific evolution (e.g. [2]).

The language faculty that wasn't: a usage-based account of natural language recursion

PubMed Central

Christiansen, Morten H.; Chater, Nick

2015-01-01

In the generative tradition, the language faculty has been shrinking—perhaps to include only the mechanism of recursion. This paper argues that even this view of the language faculty is too expansive. We first argue that a language faculty is difficult to reconcile with evolutionary considerations. We then focus on recursion as a detailed case study, arguing that our ability to process recursive structure does not rely on recursion as a property of the grammar, but instead emerges gradually by piggybacking on domain-general sequence learning abilities. Evidence from genetics, comparative work on non-human primates, and cognitive neuroscience suggests that humans have evolved complex sequence learning skills, which were subsequently pressed into service to accommodate language. Constraints on sequence learning therefore have played an important role in shaping the cultural evolution of linguistic structure, including our limited abilities for processing recursive structure. Finally, we re-evaluate some of the key considerations that have often been taken to require the postulation of a language faculty. PMID:26379567

The language faculty that wasn't: a usage-based account of natural language recursion.

PubMed

Christiansen, Morten H; Chater, Nick

2015-01-01

In the generative tradition, the language faculty has been shrinking-perhaps to include only the mechanism of recursion. This paper argues that even this view of the language faculty is too expansive. We first argue that a language faculty is difficult to reconcile with evolutionary considerations. We then focus on recursion as a detailed case study, arguing that our ability to process recursive structure does not rely on recursion as a property of the grammar, but instead emerges gradually by piggybacking on domain-general sequence learning abilities. Evidence from genetics, comparative work on non-human primates, and cognitive neuroscience suggests that humans have evolved complex sequence learning skills, which were subsequently pressed into service to accommodate language. Constraints on sequence learning therefore have played an important role in shaping the cultural evolution of linguistic structure, including our limited abilities for processing recursive structure. Finally, we re-evaluate some of the key considerations that have often been taken to require the postulation of a language faculty.

Iconicity and the Emergence of Combinatorial Structure in Language.

PubMed

Verhoef, Tessa; Kirby, Simon; de Boer, Bart

2016-11-01

In language, recombination of a discrete set of meaningless building blocks forms an unlimited set of possible utterances. How such combinatorial structure emerged in the evolution of human language is increasingly being studied. It has been shown that it can emerge when languages culturally evolve and adapt to human cognitive biases. How the emergence of combinatorial structure interacts with the existence of holistic iconic form-meaning mappings in a language is still unknown. The experiment presented in this paper studies the role of iconicity and human cognitive learning biases in the emergence of combinatorial structure in artificial whistled languages. Participants learned and reproduced whistled words for novel objects with the use of a slide whistle. Their reproductions were used as input for the next participant, to create transmission chains and simulate cultural transmission. Two conditions were studied: one in which the persistence of iconic form-meaning mappings was possible and one in which this was experimentally made impossible. In both conditions, cultural transmission caused the whistled languages to become more learnable and more structured, but this process was slightly delayed in the first condition. Our findings help to gain insight into when and how words may lose their iconic origins when they become part of an organized linguistic system. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Association between Speech-Language, General Cognitive Functioning and Behaviour Problems in Individuals with Williams Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossi, N. F.; Giacheti, C. M.

2017-01-01

Background: Williams syndrome (WS) phenotype is described as unique and intriguing. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between speech-language abilities, general cognitive functioning and behavioural problems in individuals with WS, considering age effects and speech-language characteristics of WS sub-groups. Methods: The…

Using the Natural Language Paradigm (NLP) to Increase Vocalizations of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LeBlanc, Linda A.; Geiger, Kaneen B.; Sautter, Rachael A.; Sidener, Tina M.

2007-01-01

The Natural Language Paradigm (NLP) has proven effective in increasing spontaneous verbalizations for children with autism. This study investigated the use of NLP with older adults with cognitive impairments served at a leisure-based adult day program for seniors. Three individuals with limited spontaneous use of functional language participated…

Direct and mediated effects of language and cognitive skills on comprehension of oral narrative texts (listening comprehension) for children.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2016-01-01

We investigated component language and cognitive skills of oral language comprehension of narrative texts (i.e., listening comprehension). Using the construction-integration model of text comprehension as an overarching theoretical framework, we examined direct and mediated relations of foundational cognitive skills (working memory and attention), foundational language skills (vocabulary and grammatical knowledge), and higher-order cognitive skills (inference, theory of mind, and comprehension monitoring) to listening comprehension. A total of 201 first grade children in South Korea participated in the study. Structural equation modeling results showed that listening comprehension is directly predicted by working memory, grammatical knowledge, inference, and theory of mind and is indirectly predicted by attention, vocabulary, and comprehension monitoring. The total effects were .46 for working memory, .07 for attention, .30 for vocabulary, .49 for grammatical knowledge, .31 for inference, .52 for theory of mind, and .18 for comprehension monitoring. These results suggest that multiple language and cognitive skills make contributions to listening comprehension, and their contributions are both direct and indirect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Delegation to automaticity: the driving force for cognitive evolution?

PubMed

Shine, J M; Shine, R

2014-01-01

The ability to delegate control over repetitive tasks from higher to lower neural centers may be a fundamental innovation in human cognition. Plausibly, the massive neurocomputational challenges associated with the mastery of balance during the evolution of bipedality in proto-humans provided a strong selective advantage to individuals with brains capable of efficiently transferring tasks in this way. Thus, the shift from quadrupedal to bipedal locomotion may have driven the rapid evolution of distinctive features of human neuronal functioning. We review recent studies of functional neuroanatomy that bear upon this hypothesis, and identify ways to test our ideas.

The impact of aided language stimulation on symbol comprehension and production in children with moderate cognitive disabilities.

PubMed

Harris, Michael D; Reichle, Joe

2004-05-01

Over the past decade, aided language stimulation has emerged as a strategy to promote both symbol comprehension and symbol production among individuals who use graphic mode communication systems. During aided language stimulation, an interventionist points to a graphic symbol while simultaneously producing the corresponding spoken word during natural communicative exchanges. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of aided language stimulation on children with moderate cognitive disabilities. Three preschool children with moderate cognitive disabilities who were functionally nonspeaking participated in the investigation. The investigator implemented a multiple-probe design across symbol sets/activities. Elicited probes were used to determine whether the children increased their comprehension and production of graphic symbols. Results indicated that all 3 children displayed increased symbol comprehension and production following the implementation of aided language stimulation.

New Evidence About Language and Cognitive Development Based on a Longitudinal Study: Hypotheses for Intervention

PubMed Central

Goldin-Meadow, Susan; Levine, Susan C.; Hedges, Larry V.; Huttenlocher, Janellen; Raudenbush, Stephen W.; Small, Steven L.

2014-01-01

We review findings from a four-year longitudinal study of language learning conducted on two samples: a sample of typically developing children whose parents vary substantially in socioeconomic status, and a sample of children with pre- or perinatal brain injury. This design enables us to study language development across a wide range of language learning environments and a wide range of language learners. We videotaped samples of children's and parents' speech and gestures during spontaneous interactions at home every four months, and then we transcribed and coded the tapes. We focused on two behaviors known to vary across individuals and environments—child gesture and parent speech—behaviors that have the potential to index, and perhaps even play a role in creating, differences across children in linguistic and other cognitive skills. Our observations have led to four hypotheses that have promise for the development of diagnostic tools and interventions to enhance language and cognitive development and brain plasticity after neonatal injury. One kind of hypothesis involves tools that could identify children who may be at risk for later language deficits. The other involves interventions that have the potential to promote language development. We present our four hypotheses as a summary of the findings from our study because there is scientific evidence behind them and because this evidence has the potential to be put to practical use in improving education. PMID:24911049

Exploration as a mediator of the relation between the attainment of motor milestones and the development of spatial cognition and spatial language.

PubMed

Oudgenoeg-Paz, Ora; Leseman, Paul P M; Volman, M Chiel J M

2015-09-01

The embodied-cognition approach views cognition and language as grounded in daily sensorimotor child-environment interactions. Therefore, the attainment of motor milestones is expected to play a role in cognitive-linguistic development. Early attainment of unsupported sitting and independent walking indeed predict better spatial cognition and language at later ages. However, evidence linking these milestones with the development of spatial language and evidence regarding factors that might mediate this relation are scarce. The current study examined whether exploration of spatial-relational object properties (e.g., the possibility of containing or stacking) and exploration of the space through self-locomotion mediate the effect of, respectively, age of sitting and age of walking on spatial cognition and spatial language. Thus, we hypothesized that an earlier age of sitting and walking predicts, respectively, higher levels of spatial-relational object exploration and exploration through self-locomotion, which in turn, predict better spatial cognition and spatial language at later ages. Fifty-nine Dutch children took part in a longitudinal study. A combination of tests, observations, and parental reports was used to measure motor development, exploratory behavior (age 20 months), spatial memory (age 24 months), spatial processing (age 32 months), and spatial language (age 36 months). Results show that attainment of sitting predicted spatial memory and spatial language, but spatial-relational object exploration did not mediate these effects. Attainment of independent walking predicted spatial processing and spatial language, and exploration through self-locomotion (partially) mediated these relations. These findings extend previous work and provide partial support for the hypotheses about the mediating role of exploration. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Parallel Evolution of Genes and Languages in the Caucasus Region

PubMed Central

Balanovsky, Oleg; Dibirova, Khadizhat; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg; Frolova, Svetlana; Pocheshkhova, Elvira; Haber, Marc; Platt, Daniel; Schurr, Theodore; Haak, Wolfgang; Kuznetsova, Marina; Radzhabov, Magomed; Balaganskaya, Olga; Romanov, Alexey; Zakharova, Tatiana; Soria Hernanz, David F.; Zalloua, Pierre; Koshel, Sergey; Ruhlen, Merritt; Renfrew, Colin; Wells, R. Spencer; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Balanovska, Elena

2012-01-01

We analyzed 40 SNP and 19 STR Y-chromosomal markers in a large sample of 1,525 indigenous individuals from 14 populations in the Caucasus and 254 additional individuals representing potential source populations. We also employed a lexicostatistical approach to reconstruct the history of the languages of the North Caucasian family spoken by the Caucasus populations. We found a different major haplogroup to be prevalent in each of four sets of populations that occupy distinct geographic regions and belong to different linguistic branches. The haplogroup frequencies correlated with geography and, even more strongly, with language. Within haplogroups, a number of haplotype clusters were shown to be specific to individual populations and languages. The data suggested a direct origin of Caucasus male lineages from the Near East, followed by high levels of isolation, differentiation and genetic drift in situ. Comparison of genetic and linguistic reconstructions covering the last few millennia showed striking correspondences between the topology and dates of the respective gene and language trees, and with documented historical events. Overall, in the Caucasus region, unmatched levels of gene-language co-evolution occurred within geographically isolated populations, probably due to its mountainous terrain. PMID:21571925

Developmental Plasticity and Language: A Comparative Perspective.

PubMed

Griebel, Ulrike; Pepperberg, Irene M; Oller, D Kimbrough

2016-04-01

The growing field of evo-devo is increasingly demonstrating the complexity of steps involved in genetic, intracellular regulatory, and extracellular environmental control of the development of phenotypes. A key result of such work is an account for the remarkable plasticity of organismal form in many species based on relatively minor changes in regulation of highly conserved genes and genetic processes. Accounting for behavioral plasticity is of similar potential interest but has received far less attention. Of particular interest is plasticity in communication systems, where human language represents an ultimate target for research. The present paper considers plasticity of language capabilities in a comparative framework, focusing attention on examples of a remarkable fact: Whereas there exist design features of mature human language that have never been observed to occur in non-humans in the wild, many of these features can be developed to notable extents when non-humans are enculturated through human training (especially with intensive social interaction). These examples of enculturated developmental plasticity across extremely diverse taxa suggest, consistent with the evo-devo theme of highly conserved processes in evolution, that human language is founded in part on cognitive capabilities that are indeed ancient and that even modern humans show self-organized emergence of many language capabilities in the context of rich enculturation, built on the special social/ecological history of the hominin line. Human culture can thus be seen as a regulatory system encouraging language development in the context of a cognitive background with many highly conserved features. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Association between speech-language, general cognitive functioning and behaviour problems in individuals with Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Rossi, N F; Giacheti, C M

2017-07-01

Williams syndrome (WS) phenotype is described as unique and intriguing. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between speech-language abilities, general cognitive functioning and behavioural problems in individuals with WS, considering age effects and speech-language characteristics of WS sub-groups. The study's participants were 26 individuals with WS and their parents. General cognitive functioning was assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Token Test and the Cookie Theft Picture test were used as speech-language measures. Five speech-language characteristics were evaluated from a 30-min conversation (clichés, echolalia, perseverative speech, exaggerated prosody and monotone intonation). The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL 6-18) was used to assess behavioural problems. Higher single-word receptive vocabulary and narrative vocabulary were negatively associated with CBCL T-scores for Social Problems, Aggressive Behaviour and Total Problems. Speech rate was negatively associated with the CBCL Withdrawn/Depressed T-score. Monotone intonation was associated with shy behaviour, as well as exaggerated prosody with talkative behaviour. WS with perseverative speech and exaggerated prosody presented higher scores on Thought Problems. Echolalia was significantly associated with lower Verbal IQ. No significant association was found between IQ and behaviour problems. Age-associated effects were observed only for the Aggressive Behaviour scale. Associations reported in the present study may represent an insightful background for future predictive studies of speech-language, cognition and behaviour problems in WS. © 2017 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

What changes in neural oscillations can reveal about developmental cognitive neuroscience: language development as a case in point.

PubMed

Maguire, Mandy J; Abel, Alyson D

2013-10-01

EEG is a primary method for studying temporally precise neuronal processes across the lifespan. Most of this work focuses on event related potentials (ERPs); however, using time-locked time frequency analysis to decompose the EEG signal can identify and distinguish multiple changes in brain oscillations underlying cognition (Bastiaansen et al., 2010). Further this measure is thought to reflect changes in inter-neuronal communication more directly than ERPs (Nunez and Srinivasan, 2006). Although time frequency has elucidated cognitive processes in adults, applying it to cognitive development is still rare. Here, we review the basics of neuronal oscillations, some of what they reveal about adult cognitive function, and what little is known relating to children. We focus on language because it develops early and engages complex cortical networks. Additionally, because time frequency analysis of the EEG related to adult language comprehension has been incredibly informative, using similar methods with children will shed new light on current theories of language development and increase our understanding of how neural processes change over the lifespan. Our goal is to emphasize the power of this methodology and encourage its use throughout developmental cognitive neuroscience. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel methodology to examine cognitive and experiential factors in language development: combining eye-tracking and LENA technology

PubMed Central

Odean, Rosalie; Nazareth, Alina; Pruden, Shannon M.

2015-01-01

Developmental systems theory posits that development cannot be segmented by influences acting in isolation, but should be studied through a scientific lens that highlights the complex interactions between these forces over time (Overton, 2013a). This poses a unique challenge for developmental psychologists studying complex processes like language development. In this paper, we advocate for the combining of highly sophisticated data collection technologies in an effort to move toward a more systemic approach to studying language development. We investigate the efficiency and appropriateness of combining eye-tracking technology and the LENA (Language Environment Analysis) system, an automated language analysis tool, in an effort to explore the relation between language processing in early development, and external dynamic influences like parent and educator language input in the home and school environments. Eye-tracking allows us to study language processing via eye movement analysis; these eye movements have been linked to both conscious and unconscious cognitive processing, and thus provide one means of evaluating cognitive processes underlying language development that does not require the use of subjective parent reports or checklists. The LENA system, on the other hand, provides automated language output that describes a child’s language-rich environment. In combination, these technologies provide critical information not only about a child’s language processing abilities but also about the complexity of the child’s language environment. Thus, when used in conjunction these technologies allow researchers to explore the nature of interacting systems involved in language development. PMID:26379591

The Cognitive Coaching-Supported Reflective Teaching Approach in English Language Teaching: Academic and Permanence Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akyildiz, Seçil Tümen; Semerci, Çetin

2016-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the effect of the cognitive coaching-supported reflective teaching approach in English language teaching on the academic success of students and on the permanence of success. It was conducted during the spring semester of 2013/2014 academic year at the School of Foreign Languages, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey.…

The Cognitive Advantages of Counting Specifically: A Representational Analysis of Verbal Numeration Systems in Oceanic Languages.

PubMed

Bender, Andrea; Schlimm, Dirk; Beller, Sieghard

2015-10-01

The domain of numbers provides a paradigmatic case for investigating interactions of culture, language, and cognition: Numerical competencies are considered a core domain of knowledge, and yet the development of specifically human abilities presupposes cultural and linguistic input by way of counting sequences. These sequences constitute systems with distinct structural properties, the cross-linguistic variability of which has implications for number representation and processing. Such representational effects are scrutinized for two types of verbal numeration systems-general and object-specific ones-that were in parallel use in several Oceanic languages (English with its general system is included for comparison). The analysis indicates that the object-specific systems outperform the general systems with respect to counting and mental arithmetic, largely due to their regular and more compact representation. What these findings reveal on cognitive diversity, how the conjectures involved speak to more general issues in cognitive science, and how the approach taken here might help to bridge the gap between anthropology and other cognitive sciences is discussed in the conclusion. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Do Children with Specific Language Impairment have a Cognitive Profile Reminiscent of Autism? A Review of the Literature.

PubMed

Taylor, Lauren J; Maybery, Murray T; Whitehouse, Andrew J O

2012-10-01

There is debate regarding the relationship between autism and specific language impairment (SLI), with some researchers proposing aetiological overlap between the conditions and others maintaining their aetiological distinction. Although considerable research has investigated the language phenotypes of these disorders, the relationship between the cognitive phenotypes has been left relatively unexplored. This paper reviews relevant literature on whether individuals with SLI exhibit cognitive characteristics reminiscent of autism. Overall, findings are inconsistent and there is a lack of substantive evidence supporting overlapping cognitive phenotypes in autism and SLI. Better powered and more rigorous experimental designs, as well as studies directly comparing the cognitive phenotype of children with SLI and those with autism will further elucidate the aetiological relationship between these two conditions.

Evolution of language: An empirical study at eBay Big Data Lab.

PubMed

Bodoff, David; Bekkerman, Ron; Dai, Julie

2017-01-01

The evolutionary theory of language predicts that a language will tend towards fewer synonyms for a given object. We subject this and related predictions to empirical tests, using data from the eBay Big Data Lab which let us access all records of the words used by eBay vendors in their item titles, and by consumers in their searches. We find support for the predictions of the evolutionary theory of language. In particular, the mapping from object to words sharpens over time on both sides of the market, i.e. among consumers and among vendors. In addition, the word mappings used on the two sides of the market become more similar over time. Our research contributes to the literature on language evolution by reporting results of a truly unique large-scale empirical study.

The role of social cognition and prosocial behaviour in relation to the socio-emotional functioning of primary aged children with specific language impairment.

PubMed

Bakopoulou, Ioanna; Dockrell, Julie E

2016-01-01

Children with language impairments often experience difficulties with their socio-emotional functioning and poorly developed prosocial behaviour. However, the nature of the association between language impairment and difficulties with socio-emotional functioning remains unclear. The social cognition skills of a group of primary-aged children (6-11 years old) with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) were examined in relation to their teachers' ratings of socio-emotional functioning. Forty-two children with SLI were individually matched with 42 children for chronological age and non-verbal cognitive ability, and 42 children for receptive language ability. The children all attended mainstream primary schools or one Language Unit. Four aspects of social cognition were directly assessed: emotion identification, emotion labelling, inferring the causes of emotions, and knowledge of conflict resolution strategies. The children's socio-emotional functioning was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), a standardised measure, completed by their teachers. Associations between children's performance on tasks of social cognition and children's socio-emotional functioning were explored. Significant group differences were found for all social cognition tasks. The SLI group was rated to experience significantly more problems with socio-emotional functioning by their teachers than both control groups, indicating problems with all aspects of socio-emotional functioning. Social cognition and prosocial behaviour, but not language ability, predicted teacher-rated behavioural, emotional and social difficulties for the SLI group. The results challenge current understanding of socio-emotional functioning in children with SLI by pointing to the crucial role of social cognition and prosocial behaviour. Factors other than expressive and receptive language play a role in the socio-emotional functioning of children with SLI. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

The role of mirror neurons in language acquisition and evolution.

PubMed

Behme, Christina

2014-04-01

I argue that Cook et al.'s attack of the genetic hypothesis of mirror neurons misses its target because the authors miss the point that genetics may specify how neurons may learn, not what they learn. Paying more attention to recent work linking mirror neurons to language acquisition and evolution would strengthen Cook et al.'s arguments against a rigid genetic hypothesis.

Propositional Density in Spoken and Written Language of Czech-Speaking Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smolík, Filip; Stepankova, Hana; Vyhnálek, Martin; Nikolai, Tomáš; Horáková, Karolína; Matejka, Štepán

2016-01-01

Purpose Propositional density (PD) is a measure of content richness in language production that declines in normal aging and more profoundly in dementia. The present study aimed to develop a PD scoring system for Czech and use it to compare PD in language productions of older people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and control…

When the Native Is Also a Non-Native: "Retrodicting" the Complexity of Language Teacher Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aslan, Erhan

2015-01-01

The impact of native (NS) and non-native speaker (NNS) identities on second or foreign language teachers' cognition and practices in the classroom has mainly been investigated in ESL/EFL contexts. Using complexity theory as a framework, this case study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by presenting a foreign language teacher in the…

On Quantitative Comparative Research in Communication and Language Evolution

PubMed Central

Oller, D. Kimbrough; Griebel, Ulrike

2014-01-01

Quantitative comparison of human language and natural animal communication requires improved conceptualizations. We argue that an infrastructural approach to development and evolution incorporating an extended interpretation of the distinctions among illocution, perlocution, and meaning (Austin 1962; Oller and Griebel 2008) can help place the issues relevant to quantitative comparison in perspective. The approach can illuminate the controversy revolving around the notion of functional referentiality as applied to alarm calls, for example in the vervet monkey. We argue that referentiality offers a poor point of quantitative comparison across language and animal communication in the wild. Evidence shows that even newborn human cry could be deemed to show functional referentiality according to the criteria typically invoked by advocates of referentiality in animal communication. Exploring the essence of the idea of illocution, we illustrate an important realm of commonality among animal communication systems and human language, a commonality that opens the door to more productive, quantifiable comparisons. Finally, we delineate two examples of infrastructural communicative capabilities that should be particularly amenable to direct quantitative comparison across humans and our closest relatives. PMID:25285057

On Quantitative Comparative Research in Communication and Language Evolution.

PubMed

Oller, D Kimbrough; Griebel, Ulrike

2014-09-01

Quantitative comparison of human language and natural animal communication requires improved conceptualizations. We argue that an infrastructural approach to development and evolution incorporating an extended interpretation of the distinctions among illocution, perlocution, and meaning (Austin 1962; Oller and Griebel 2008) can help place the issues relevant to quantitative comparison in perspective. The approach can illuminate the controversy revolving around the notion of functional referentiality as applied to alarm calls, for example in the vervet monkey. We argue that referentiality offers a poor point of quantitative comparison across language and animal communication in the wild. Evidence shows that even newborn human cry could be deemed to show functional referentiality according to the criteria typically invoked by advocates of referentiality in animal communication. Exploring the essence of the idea of illocution, we illustrate an important realm of commonality among animal communication systems and human language, a commonality that opens the door to more productive, quantifiable comparisons. Finally, we delineate two examples of infrastructural communicative capabilities that should be particularly amenable to direct quantitative comparison across humans and our closest relatives.

Growth in literacy, cognition, and working memory in English language learners.

PubMed

Lee Swanson, H; Orosco, Michael J; Lussier, Catherine M

2015-04-01

This cohort sequential study explored the components of working memory that underlie English reading and language acquisition in elementary school children whose first language is Spanish. To this end, children (N=410) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 at Wave 1 were administered a battery of cognitive (short-term memory [STM], working memory [WM], rapid naming, phonological processing, and random letter and number generation), vocabulary, and reading measures in both Spanish and English. These same measures were administered 1 and 2 years later. The results showed that (a) a three-factor structure (phonological STM, visual-spatial WM, and verbal WM) captured the data within both language systems, (b) growth in both the executive and STM storage components was uniquely related to growth in second language (L2) reading and language acquisition, and (c) the contribution of growth in the executive component of WM to growth in L2 processing was independent of growth in storage, phonological knowledge, inhibition, and rapid naming speed. The results suggested that growth in the phonological storage system does not supersede growth of the executive component of WM as a major contributor to growth in children's L2 reading and language. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Les contributions de la psychologie cognitive a l'enseignement strategique des langues secondes au niveau universitaire (The Contributions of Cognitive Psychology to Strategic Second Language Instruction at the University Level).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Besnard, Christine

1995-01-01

Contributions of the field of cognitive psychology to second language instruction are reviewed. It is proposed that these concepts can contribute not only to classroom language instruction, but also to methodology of language teacher education. (MSE)

Universals versus historical contingencies in lexical evolution

PubMed Central

Bochkarev, V.; Solovyev, V.; Wichmann, S.

2014-01-01

The frequency with which we use different words changes all the time, and every so often, a new lexical item is invented or another one ceases to be used. Beyond a small sample of lexical items whose properties are well studied, little is known about the dynamics of lexical evolution. How do the lexical inventories of languages, viewed as entire systems, evolve? Is the rate of evolution of the lexicon contingent upon historical factors or is it driven by regularities, perhaps to do with universals of cognition and social interaction? We address these questions using the Google Books N-Gram Corpus as a source of data and relative entropy as a measure of changes in the frequency distributions of words. It turns out that there are both universals and historical contingencies at work. Across several languages, we observe similar rates of change, but only at timescales of at least around five decades. At shorter timescales, the rate of change is highly variable and differs between languages. Major societal transformations as well as catastrophic events such as wars lead to increased change in frequency distributions, whereas stability in society has a dampening effect on lexical evolution. PMID:25274040

A cortical circuit for voluntary laryngeal control: Implications for the evolution language.

PubMed

Hickok, Gregory

2017-02-01

The development of voluntary laryngeal control has been argued to be a key innovation in the evolution of language. Part of the evidence for this hypothesis comes from neuroscience. For example, comparative research has shown that humans have direct cortical innervation of motor neurons controlling the larynx, whereas nonhuman primates do not. Research on cortical motor control circuits has shown that the frontal lobe cortical motor system does not work alone; it is dependent on sensory feedback control circuits. Thus, the human brain must have evolved not only the required efferent motor pathway but also the cortical circuit for controlling those efferent signals. To fill this gap, I propose a link between the evolution of laryngeal control and neuroscience research on the human dorsal auditory-motor speech stream. Specifically, I argue that the dorsal stream Spt (Sylvian parietal-temporal) circuit evolved in step with the direct cortico-laryngeal control pathway and together represented a key advance in the evolution of speech. I suggest that a cortical laryngeal control circuit may play an important role in language by providing a prosodic frame for speech planning.

The maps problem and the mapping problem: Two challenges for a cognitive neuroscience of speech and language

PubMed Central

Poeppel, David

2012-01-01

Research on the brain basis of speech and language faces theoretical and empirical challenges. The majority of current research, dominated by imaging, deficit-lesion, and electrophysiological techniques, seeks to identify regions that underpin aspects of language processing such as phonology, syntax, or semantics. The emphasis lies on localization and spatial characterization of function. The first part of the paper deals with a practical challenge that arises in the context of such a research program. This maps problem concerns the extent to which spatial information and localization can satisfy the explanatory needs for perception and cognition. Several areas of investigation exemplify how the neural basis of speech and language is discussed in those terms (regions, streams, hemispheres, networks). The second part of the paper turns to a more troublesome challenge, namely how to formulate the formal links between neurobiology and cognition. This principled problem thus addresses the relation between the primitives of cognition (here speech, language) and neurobiology. Dealing with this mapping problem invites the development of linking hypotheses between the domains. The cognitive sciences provide granular, theoretically motivated claims about the structure of various domains (the ‘cognome’); neurobiology, similarly, provides a list of the available neural structures. However, explanatory connections will require crafting computationally explicit linking hypotheses at the right level of abstraction. For both the practical maps problem and the principled mapping problem, developmental approaches and evidence can play a central role in the resolution. PMID:23017085

CANTAB object recognition and language tests to detect aging cognitive decline: an exploratory comparative study

PubMed Central

Cabral Soares, Fernanda; de Oliveira, Thaís Cristina Galdino; de Macedo, Liliane Dias e Dias; Tomás, Alessandra Mendonça; Picanço-Diniz, Domingos Luiz Wanderley; Bento-Torres, João; Bento-Torres, Natáli Valim Oliver; Picanço-Diniz, Cristovam Wanderley

2015-01-01

Objective The recognition of the limits between normal and pathological aging is essential to start preventive actions. The aim of this paper is to compare the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and language tests to distinguish subtle differences in cognitive performances in two different age groups, namely young adults and elderly cognitively normal subjects. Method We selected 29 young adults (29.9±1.06 years) and 31 older adults (74.1±1.15 years) matched by educational level (years of schooling). All subjects underwent a general assessment and a battery of neuropsychological tests, including the Mini Mental State Examination, visuospatial learning, and memory tasks from CANTAB and language tests. Cluster and discriminant analysis were applied to all neuropsychological test results to distinguish possible subgroups inside each age group. Results Significant differences in the performance of aged and young adults were detected in both language and visuospatial memory tests. Intragroup cluster and discriminant analysis revealed that CANTAB, as compared to language tests, was able to detect subtle but significant differences between the subjects. Conclusion Based on these findings, we concluded that, as compared to language tests, large-scale application of automated visuospatial tests to assess learning and memory might increase our ability to discern the limits between normal and pathological aging. PMID:25565785

From action to language: comparative perspectives on primate tool use, gesture and the evolution of human language

PubMed Central

Steele, James; Ferrari, Pier Francesco; Fogassi, Leonardo

2012-01-01

The papers in this Special Issue examine tool use and manual gestures in primates as a window on the evolution of the human capacity for language. Neurophysiological research has supported the hypothesis of a close association between some aspects of human action organization and of language representation, in both phonology and semantics. Tool use provides an excellent experimental context to investigate analogies between action organization and linguistic syntax. Contributors report and contextualize experimental evidence from monkeys, great apes, humans and fossil hominins, and consider the nature and the extent of overlaps between the neural representations of tool use, manual gestures and linguistic processes. PMID:22106422

A Study of the Relationship between Code Switching and the Bilingual Advantage: Evidence That Language Use Modulates Neural Indices of Language Processing and Cognitive Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackburn, Angelique Michelle

2013-01-01

Bilinguals sometimes outperform age-matched monolinguals on non-language tasks involving cognitive control. But the bilingual advantage is not consistently found in every experiment and may reflect specific attributes of the bilinguals tested. The goal of this dissertation was to determine if the way in which bilinguals use language, specifically…

Investigation of Pre-Service English Language Teachers' Cognitive Structures about Some Key Concepts in Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Course through Word Association Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ersanli, Ceylan Yangin

2016-01-01

This study aims to map the cognitive structure of pre-service English language (EL) teachers about three key concepts related to approaches and methods in language teaching so as to discover their learning process and misconceptions. The study involves both qualitative and quantitative data. The researcher administrated a Word Association Test…

Preschool Experience in 10 Countries: Cognitive and Language Performance at Age 7

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montie, Jeanne E.; Xiang, Zongping; Schweinhart, Lawrence J.

2006-01-01

The IEA Preprimary Project is a longitudinal, cross-national study of preprimary care and education designed to identify how process and structural characteristics of the settings children attended at age 4 are related to their age-7 cognitive and language performance. Investigators collaborated to develop common instruments to measure family…

Role of Mothers' Language Styles in Mediating Their Preschool Children's Cognitive Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olim, Ellis G.; And Others

1967-01-01

A study relating mothers' language styles and techniques of family control to children's cognitive development was conducted with 163 urban Negro mothers from the lower and middle classes and their 4-year-old children. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) There was a significant negative correlation between responses of status-oriented…

Music and language: relations and disconnections.

PubMed

Kraus, Nina; Slater, Jessica

2015-01-01

Music and language provide an important context in which to understand the human auditory system. While they perform distinct and complementary communicative functions, music and language are both rooted in the human desire to connect with others. Since sensory function is ultimately shaped by what is biologically important to the organism, the human urge to communicate has been a powerful driving force in both the evolution of auditory function and the ways in which it can be changed by experience within an individual lifetime. This chapter emphasizes the highly interactive nature of the auditory system as well as the depth of its integration with other sensory and cognitive systems. From the origins of music and language to the effects of auditory expertise on the neural encoding of sound, we consider key themes in auditory processing, learning, and plasticity. We emphasize the unique role of the auditory system as the temporal processing "expert" in the brain, and explore relationships between communication and cognition. We demonstrate how experience with music and language can have a significant impact on underlying neural function, and that auditory expertise strengthens some of the very same aspects of sound encoding that are deficient in impaired populations. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Apes, Wolves, Birds, and Humans: Toward a Comparative Foundation for a Functional Theory of Language Evolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Jane H.

1977-01-01

This article reviews the possibilities that a comparative, functionally oriented view of communication evolution offers to a linguist interested in the evolution of human languages and suggests a wide variety of areas which might be further investigated with profit. (CFM)

Impact of cognitive function and dysarthria on spoken language and perceived speech severity in multiple sclerosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feenaughty, Lynda

Purpose: The current study sought to investigate the separate effects of dysarthria and cognitive status on global speech timing, speech hesitation, and linguistic complexity characteristics and how these speech behaviors impose on listener impressions for three connected speech tasks presumed to differ in cognitive-linguistic demand for four carefully defined speaker groups; 1) MS with cognitive deficits (MSCI), 2) MS with clinically diagnosed dysarthria and intact cognition (MSDYS), 3) MS without dysarthria or cognitive deficits (MS), and 4) healthy talkers (CON). The relationship between neuropsychological test scores and speech-language production and perceptual variables for speakers with cognitive deficits was also explored. Methods: 48 speakers, including 36 individuals reporting a neurological diagnosis of MS and 12 healthy talkers participated. The three MS groups and control group each contained 12 speakers (8 women and 4 men). Cognitive function was quantified using standard clinical tests of memory, information processing speed, and executive function. A standard z-score of ≤ -1.50 indicated deficits in a given cognitive domain. Three certified speech-language pathologists determined the clinical diagnosis of dysarthria for speakers with MS. Experimental speech tasks of interest included audio-recordings of an oral reading of the Grandfather passage and two spontaneous speech samples in the form of Familiar and Unfamiliar descriptive discourse. Various measures of spoken language were of interest. Suprasegmental acoustic measures included speech and articulatory rate. Linguistic speech hesitation measures included pause frequency (i.e., silent and filled pauses), mean silent pause duration, grammatical appropriateness of pauses, and interjection frequency. For the two discourse samples, three standard measures of language complexity were obtained including subordination index, inter-sentence cohesion adequacy, and lexical diversity. Ten listeners

Evolution of language: An empirical study at eBay Big Data Lab

PubMed Central

Bodoff, David; Dai, Julie

2017-01-01

The evolutionary theory of language predicts that a language will tend towards fewer synonyms for a given object. We subject this and related predictions to empirical tests, using data from the eBay Big Data Lab which let us access all records of the words used by eBay vendors in their item titles, and by consumers in their searches. We find support for the predictions of the evolutionary theory of language. In particular, the mapping from object to words sharpens over time on both sides of the market, i.e. among consumers and among vendors. In addition, the word mappings used on the two sides of the market become more similar over time. Our research contributes to the literature on language evolution by reporting results of a truly unique large-scale empirical study. PMID:29261686

The sounds of silence: language, cognition, and anxiety in selective mutism.

PubMed

Manassis, Katharina; Tannock, Rosemary; Garland, E Jane; Minde, Klaus; McInnes, Alison; Clark, Sandra

2007-09-01

To determine whether oral language, working memory, and social anxiety differentiate children with selective mutism (SM), children with anxiety disorders (ANX), and normal controls (NCs) and explore predictors of mutism severity. Children ages 6 to 10 years with SM (n = 44) were compared with children with ANX (n = 28) and NCs (n = 19) of similar age on standardized measures of language, nonverbal working memory, and social anxiety. Variables correlating with mutism severity were entered in stepwise regressions to determine predictors of mute behavior in SM. Children with SM scored significantly lower on standardized language measures than children with ANX and NCs and showed greater visual memory deficits and social anxiety relative to these two groups. Age and receptive grammar ability predicted less severe mutism, whereas social anxiety predicted more severe mutism. These factors accounted for 38% of the variance in mutism severity. Social anxiety and language deficits are evident in SM, may predict mutism severity, and should be evaluated in clinical assessment. Replication is indicated, as are further studies of cognition and of intervention in SM, using large, diverse samples.

Impact of maternal education on cognitive and language scores at 18 to 24 months among extremely preterm neonates.

PubMed

Ko, Gary; Shah, Prakesh; Lee, Shoo K; Asztalos, Elizabeth

2013-10-01

To explore the association between maternal education levels and cognitive and language composite scores of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition at 18 to 24 months' corrected age in extremely preterm infants born at < 29 weeks of gestation. For infants born between 2005 and 2008, maternal education levels and the cognitive and language composite scores were collected. Analysis of covariance was used to determine the relationship between maternal education levels and composite scores after adjusting for neonatal and perinatal factors. For the study period, 457/524 (88%) infants were included in the analysis. With less than a high school education as reference, infants born to mothers with a high school education (adjusted mean difference [MD] = 5.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9 to 10.0), with partial college or specialty training (MD 8.1; 95% CI 2.8 to 13.5), with a university degree or more (MD 12.6; 95% CI 8.2 to 17.0) had significantly higher cognitive scores. Similarly, infants born to mothers with a university degree or more had significantly higher language scores (MD 10.8; 95% CI 6.1 to 15.5). For infants born at <29 weeks' gestation, both cognitive and language scores were higher as maternal education increased from less than high school level to university or higher level. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Argentinian/Chilean validation of the Spanish-language version of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III for diagnosing dementia.

PubMed

Bruno, D; Slachevsky, A; Fiorentino, N; Rueda, D S; Bruno, G; Tagle, A R; Olavarria, L; Flores, P; Lillo, P; Roca, M; Torralva, T

2017-08-30

The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), an adaptation of the ACE cognitive screening test, has been demonstrated to have high sensitivity and specificity in detecting cognitive impairment in patients with dementia and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. Although the Spanish-language version of the ACE-III has already been validated in Spain, it is yet to be validated in Latin America. The aim of this study was to validate the ACE-III test in an Argentinean and Chilean population. ACE-III was administered to 70 patients with Alzheimer disease, 31 patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, and a control group of 139 healthy volunteers. Participants were recruited at centres in both countries. The Spanish-language version of ACE-III was found to have good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87). We found significant differences in total ACE-III scores between patients with Alzheimer disease and controls (p< .05) and between patients with Alzheimer disease and bvFTD (p< .05). With a cut-off point of 86, 98.6% of AD patients, 83.9% of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia patients, and 84.2% of controls were correctly classified. This study shows that the Spanish-language version of ACE-III continues to be an effective tool for detecting cognitive dysfunction in patients with dementia. Copyright © 2017. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

The growth of language: Universal Grammar, experience, and principles of computation.

PubMed

Yang, Charles; Crain, Stephen; Berwick, Robert C; Chomsky, Noam; Bolhuis, Johan J

2017-10-01

Human infants develop language remarkably rapidly and without overt instruction. We argue that the distinctive ontogenesis of child language arises from the interplay of three factors: domain-specific principles of language (Universal Grammar), external experience, and properties of non-linguistic domains of cognition including general learning mechanisms and principles of efficient computation. We review developmental evidence that children make use of hierarchically composed structures ('Merge') from the earliest stages and at all levels of linguistic organization. At the same time, longitudinal trajectories of development show sensitivity to the quantity of specific patterns in the input, which suggests the use of probabilistic processes as well as inductive learning mechanisms that are suitable for the psychological constraints on language acquisition. By considering the place of language in human biology and evolution, we propose an approach that integrates principles from Universal Grammar and constraints from other domains of cognition. We outline some initial results of this approach as well as challenges for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language-learning impairments: a 30-year follow-up of language-impaired children with and without psychiatric, neurological and cognitive difficulties.

PubMed

Elbro, Carsten; Dalby, Mogens; Maarbjerg, Stine

2011-01-01

This study investigated the long-term consequences of language impairments for academic, educational and socio-economic outcomes. It also assessed the unique contributions of childhood measures of speech and language, non-verbal IQ, and of psychiatric and neurological problems. The study was a 30-year follow-up of 198 participants originally diagnosed with language impairments at 3-9 years. Childhood diagnoses were based on language and cognitive abilities, social maturity, motor development, and psychiatric and neurological signs. At follow-up the participants responded to a questionnaire about literacy, education, employment, economic independence and family status. The response rate was 42% (198/470). At follow-up a majority of the participants reported literacy difficulties, unemployment and low socio-economic status-at rates significantly higher than in the general population. Participants diagnosed as children with specific language impairments had significantly better outcomes than those with additional diagnoses, even when non-verbal IQ was normal or statistically controlled. Childhood measures accounted for up to 52% of the variance in adult outcomes. Psychiatric and neurological comorbidity is relevant for adult outcomes of language impairments even when non-verbal IQ is normal. © 2011 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.

A methodology for the characterization and diagnosis of cognitive impairments-Application to specific language impairment.

PubMed

Oliva, Jesús; Serrano, J Ignacio; del Castillo, M Dolores; Iglesias, Angel

2014-06-01

The diagnosis of mental disorders is in most cases very difficult because of the high heterogeneity and overlap between associated cognitive impairments. Furthermore, early and individualized diagnosis is crucial. In this paper, we propose a methodology to support the individualized characterization and diagnosis of cognitive impairments. The methodology can also be used as a test platform for existing theories on the causes of the impairments. We use computational cognitive modeling to gather information on the cognitive mechanisms underlying normal and impaired behavior. We then use this information to feed machine-learning algorithms to individually characterize the impairment and to differentiate between normal and impaired behavior. We apply the methodology to the particular case of specific language impairment (SLI) in Spanish-speaking children. The proposed methodology begins by defining a task in which normal and individuals with impairment present behavioral differences. Next we build a computational cognitive model of that task and individualize it: we build a cognitive model for each participant and optimize its parameter values to fit the behavior of each participant. Finally, we use the optimized parameter values to feed different machine learning algorithms. The methodology was applied to an existing database of 48 Spanish-speaking children (24 normal and 24 SLI children) using clustering techniques for the characterization, and different classifier techniques for the diagnosis. The characterization results show three well-differentiated groups that can be associated with the three main theories on SLI. Using a leave-one-subject-out testing methodology, all the classifiers except the DT produced sensitivity, specificity and area under curve values above 90%, reaching 100% in some cases. The results show that our methodology is able to find relevant information on the underlying cognitive mechanisms and to use it appropriately to provide better

The Evolution of a Connectionist Model of Situated Human Language Understanding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayberry, Marshall R.; Crocker, Matthew W.

The Adaptive Mechanisms in Human Language Processing (ALPHA) project features both experimental and computational tracks designed to complement each other in the investigation of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie situated human utterance processing. The models developed in the computational track replicate results obtained in the experimental track and, in turn, suggest further experiments by virtue of behavior that arises as a by-product of their operation.

Morphological features of the neonatal brain support development of subsequent cognitive, language, and motor abilities.

PubMed

Spann, Marisa N; Bansal, Ravi; Rosen, Tove S; Peterson, Bradley S

2014-09-01

Knowledge of the role of brain maturation in the development of cognitive abilities derives primarily from studies of school-age children to adults. Little is known about the morphological features of the neonatal brain that support the subsequent development of abilities in early childhood, when maturation of the brain and these abilities are the most dynamic. The goal of our study was to determine whether brain morphology during the neonatal period supports early cognitive development through 2 years of age. We correlated morphological features of the cerebral surface assessed using deformation-based measures (surface distances) of high-resolution MRI scans for 33 healthy neonates, scanned between the first to sixth week of postmenstrual life, with subsequent measures of their motor, language, and cognitive abilities at ages 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. We found that morphological features of the cerebral surface of the frontal, mesial prefrontal, temporal, and occipital regions correlated with subsequent motor scores, posterior parietal regions correlated with subsequent language scores, and temporal and occipital regions correlated with subsequent cognitive scores. Measures of the anterior and middle portions of the cingulate gyrus correlated with scores across all three domains of ability. Most of the significant findings were inverse correlations located bilaterally in the brain. The inverse correlations may suggest either that a more protracted morphological maturation or smaller local volumes of neonatal brain tissue supports better performance on measures of subsequent motor, language, and cognitive abilities throughout the first 2 years of postnatal life. The correlations of morphological measures of the cingulate with measures of performance across all domains of ability suggest that the cingulate supports a broad range of skills in infancy and early childhood, similar to its functions in older children and adults. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Cognitive Contribution to the Development of Proficiency in a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Csapo, Beno; Nikolov, Marianne

2009-01-01

The present paper reports results of a longitudinal research project studying the contribution of cognitive skills and other factors to proficiency in a foreign language (L2) in the Hungarian educational context. The larger project aims to describe the levels of L2 proficiency of school-aged populations in order to explore the conditions and…

Language, motor and cognitive development of extremely preterm children: modeling individual growth trajectories over the first three years of life.

PubMed

Sansavini, Alessandra; Pentimonti, Jill; Justice, Laura; Guarini, Annalisa; Savini, Silvia; Alessandroni, Rosina; Faldella, Giacomo

2014-01-01

Survival rate of extremely low gestational age (ELGA) newborns has increased over 80% in the last 15 years, but its consequences on the short- and longer-term developmental competencies may be severe. The aim of this study was to describe growth trajectories of linguistic, motor and cognitive skills among ELGA children, compared to full-term (FT) peers, from the first to the third year of life, a crucial period for development. Growth curve analysis was used to examine individual and group differences in terms of initial status at 12 months and rate of growth through the second and the third year of life with five points of assessment. Twenty-eight monolingual Italian children, of whom 17 were ELGA (mean GA 25.7 weeks) and 11 were FT children, were assessed through the BSID-III at 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months for language skills and at 12, 24 and 30 months for motor and cognitive skills. ELGA children presented significantly lower scores than FT peers in language, motor and cognitive skills and they did not overcome their disadvantage by 3 years, even if their corrected age was taken into account. Concerning growth curves, in motor development a significant increasing divergence was found showing a Matthew effect with the preterm sample falling further behind the FT sample. In linguistic and cognitive development, instead, a stable gap between the two samples was found. In addition, great inter-individual differences in rate of change were observed for language development in both samples. Our findings highlight the theoretical and clinical relevance of analyzing, through growth curve analyses, the developmental trajectories of ELGA children in language skills taking into account their inter-individual variability also across motor and cognitive domains. After reading this article, the reader will interpret: (a) characteristics and growth trajectories of ELGA children from the first to the third year of life with respect to FT children in language, motor and

Speech and gesture in spatial language and cognition among the Yucatec Mayas.

PubMed

Le Guen, Olivier

2011-07-01

In previous analyses of the influence of language on cognition, speech has been the main channel examined. In studies conducted among Yucatec Mayas, efforts to determine the preferred frame of reference in use in this community have failed to reach an agreement (Bohnemeyer & Stolz, 2006; Levinson, 2003 vs. Le Guen, 2006, 2009). This paper argues for a multimodal analysis of language that encompasses gesture as well as speech, and shows that the preferred frame of reference in Yucatec Maya is only detectable through the analysis of co-speech gesture and not through speech alone. A series of experiments compares knowledge of the semantics of spatial terms, performance on nonlinguistic tasks and gestures produced by men and women. The results show a striking gender difference in the knowledge of the semantics of spatial terms, but an equal preference for a geocentric frame of reference in nonverbal tasks. In a localization task, participants used a variety of strategies in their speech, but they all exhibited a systematic preference for a geocentric frame of reference in their gestures. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Implications of Timing of Maternal Depressive Symptoms for Early Cognitive and Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sohr-Preston, Sara L.; Scaramella, Laura V.

2006-01-01

Statistically, women, particularly pregnant women and new mothers, are at heightened risk for depression. The present review describes the current state of the research linking maternal depressed mood and children's cognitive and language development. Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms, whether during the prenatal period, postpartum period,…

Cognitive Approaches to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Evolution of Multirepresentational Theorizing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalgleish, Tim

2004-01-01

The evolution of multirepresentational cognitive theorizing in psychopathology is illustrated by detailed discussion and analysis of a number of prototypical models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Network and schema theories, which focus on a single, explicit aspect/format of mental representation, are compared with theories that focus on…

Improvement in Cognitive and Language Skills from Preschool to Adolescence in Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sigman, Marian; McGovern, Corina W.

2005-01-01

This paper reports on the developmental progression of a sample of 48 adolescents and young adults with autism who were previously assessed at preschool age and again in the mid-school period. In contrast to the earlier period when about one-third of the children made dramatic gains, cognitive and language skills tended to remain stable or decline…

Dependency distance in language evolution. Comment on "Dependency distance: A new perspective on syntactic patterns in natural languages" by Haitao Liu et al.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Bingli; Chen, Xinying

2017-07-01

In the target article [1], Liu et al. provide an informative introduction to the dependency distance studies and proclaim that language syntactic patterns, that relate to the dependency distance, are associated with human cognitive mechanisms, such as limited working memory and syntax processing. Therefore, such syntactic patterns are probably 'human-driven' language universals. Sufficient evidence based on big data analysis is also given in the article for supporting this idea. The hypotheses generally seem very convincing yet still need further tests from various perspectives. Diachronic linguistic study based on authentic language data, on our opinion, can be one of those 'further tests'.

Variable Penetrance of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 Microduplication in a Family with Cognitive and Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Benítez-Burraco, Antonio; Barcos-Martínez, Montserrat; Espejo-Portero, Isabel; Jiménez-Romero, Salud

2017-01-01

The 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 region is found duplicated or deleted in people with cognitive, language, and behavioral impairment. We report on a family (a father and 3 male twin siblings) that presents with a duplication of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 region and a variable phenotype: the father and the fraternal twin are normal carriers, whereas the monozygotic twins exhibit severe language and cognitive delay as well as behavioral disturbances. The genes located within the duplicated region are involved in brain development and function, and some of them are related to language processing. The probands' phenotype may result from changes in the expression level of some of these genes important for cognitive development. PMID:28588435

Disentangling the Relationship between Working Memory and Language: The Roles of Short-Term Storage and Cognitive Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engel de Abreu, Pascale Marguerite Josiane; Gathercole, Susan Elizabeth; Martin, Romain

2011-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between working memory and language in young children growing up in a multilingual environment. The aim is to explore whether mechanisms of short-term storage and cognitive control hold similar relations to emerging language skills and to investigate if potential links are mediated by related cognitive…

Variation in spatial language and cognition: exploring visuo-spatial thinking and speaking cross-linguistically.

PubMed

Soroli, Efstathia

2012-08-01

Languages differ strikingly in how they encode spatial information. This variability is realized with spatial semantic elements mapped across languages in very different ways onto lexical/syntactic structures. For example, satellite-framed languages (e.g., English) express MANNER: in the verb and PATH: in satellites, while verb-framed languages (e.g., French) lexicalize PATH: in the verb, leaving MANNER: implicit or peripheral. Some languages are harder to classify into these categories, rather presenting equipollently framed systems, such as Chinese (serial-verb constructions) or Greek (parallel verb- and satellite-framed structures in equally frequent contexts). Such properties seem to have implications not only on the formulation/articulation levels, but also on the conceptualization level, thereby reviving questions concerning the language-thought interface. The present study investigates the relative impact of language-independent and language-specific factors on spatial representations across three typologically different languages (English-French-Greek) combining a variety of complementary tasks (production, non-verbal, and verbal categorization). The findings show that typological properties of languages can have an impact on both linguistic and non-linguistic organization of spatial information, open new perspectives for the investigation of conceptualization, and contribute more generally to the debate concerning the universal and language-specific dimensions of cognition.

The Evolution of Networked Computing in the Teaching of Japanese as a Foreign Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Richard

1998-01-01

Reviews the evolution of Internet-based projects in Japanese computer-assisted language learning and suggests future directions in which the field may develop, based on emerging network technology and learning theory. (Author/VWL)

Grounded and embodied mathematical cognition: Promoting mathematical insight and proof using action and language.

PubMed

Nathan, Mitchell J; Walkington, Candace

2017-01-01

We develop a theory of grounded and embodied mathematical cognition (GEMC) that draws on action-cognition transduction for advancing understanding of how the body can support mathematical reasoning. GEMC proposes that participants' actions serve as inputs capable of driving the cognition-action system toward associated cognitive states. This occurs through a process of transduction that promotes valuable mathematical insights by eliciting dynamic depictive gestures that enact spatio-temporal properties of mathematical entities. Our focus here is on pre-college geometry proof production. GEMC suggests that action alone can foster insight but is insufficient for valid proof production if action is not coordinated with language systems for propositionalizing general properties of objects and space. GEMC guides the design of a video game-based learning environment intended to promote students' mathematical insights and informal proofs by eliciting dynamic gestures through in-game directed actions. GEMC generates several hypotheses that contribute to theories of embodied cognition and to the design of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education interventions. Pilot study results with a prototype video game tentatively support theory-based predictions regarding the role of dynamic gestures for fostering insight and proof-with-insight, and for the role of action coupled with language to promote proof-with-insight. But the pilot yields mixed results for deriving in-game interventions intended to elicit dynamic gesture production. Although our central purpose is an explication of GEMC theory and the role of action-cognition transduction, the theory-based video game design reveals the potential of GEMC to improve STEM education, and highlights the complex challenges of connecting embodiment research to education practices and learning environment design.

The Induction of Emergent Relations in Children with Severe Cognitive and Language Delays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howarth, Matthew

2012-01-01

In three experiments I sought to experimentally test a source of emergent relations defined as transitivity by Stimulus Equivalence theory or as combinatorial entailment in Relational Frame Theory. In Experiment I, the participants were 4 children diagnosed with autism who also demonstrated significant cognitive and language delays, who were…

Linear grammar as a possible stepping-stone in the evolution of language.

PubMed

Jackendoff, Ray; Wittenberg, Eva

2017-02-01

We suggest that one way to approach the evolution of language is through reverse engineering: asking what components of the language faculty could have been useful in the absence of the full complement of components. We explore the possibilities offered by linear grammar, a form of language that lacks syntax and morphology altogether, and that structures its utterances through a direct mapping between semantics and phonology. A language with a linear grammar would have no syntactic categories or syntactic phrases, and therefore no syntactic recursion. It would also have no functional categories such as tense, agreement, and case inflection, and no derivational morphology. Such a language would still be capable of conveying certain semantic relations through word order-for instance by stipulating that agents should precede patients. However, many other semantic relations would have to be based on pragmatics and discourse context. We find evidence of linear grammar in a wide range of linguistic phenomena: pidgins, stages of late second language acquisition, home signs, village sign languages, language comprehension (even in fully syntactic languages), aphasia, and specific language impairment. We also find a full-blown language, Riau Indonesian, whose grammar is arguably close to a pure linear grammar. In addition, when subjects are asked to convey information through nonlinguistic gesture, their gestures make use of semantically based principles of linear ordering. Finally, some pockets of English grammar, notably compounds, can be characterized in terms of linear grammar. We conclude that linear grammar is a plausible evolutionary precursor of modern fully syntactic grammar, one that is still active in the human mind.

Looking Ahead: Future Directions in, and Future Research into, Second Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen-Freeman, Diane

2018-01-01

This article begins by situating modern-day second language acquisition (SLA) research in a historical context, tracing its evolution from cognitive to social to sociocognitive accounts. Next, the influence of the zeitgeist is considered. In this era of rapid change and turmoil, there are both perils and opportunities afforded by globalization. In…

The Effects of Cognitive: Linguistic Variables and Language Experience on Behavioural and Kinematic Performances in Nonword Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sasisekaran, Jayanthi; Weisberg, Sanford

2013-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of cognitive-linguistic variables and language experience on behavioral and kinematic measures of nonword learning in young adults. Group 1 consisted of thirteen participants who spoke American English as the first and only language. Group 2 consisted of seven participants with varying…

"The Two Brothers": Reconciling Perceptual-Cognitive and Statistical Models of Musical Evolution.

PubMed

Jan, Steven

2018-01-01

While the "units, events and dynamics" of memetic evolution have been abstractly theorized (Lynch, 1998), they have not been applied systematically to real corpora in music. Some researchers, convinced of the validity of cultural evolution in more than the metaphorical sense adopted by much musicology, but perhaps skeptical of some or all of the claims of memetics, have attempted statistically based corpus-analysis techniques of music drawn from molecular biology, and these have offered strong evidence in favor of system-level change over time (Savage, 2017). This article argues that such statistical approaches, while illuminating, ignore the psychological realities of music-information grouping, the transmission of such groups with varying degrees of fidelity, their selection according to relative perceptual-cognitive salience, and the power of this Darwinian process to drive the systemic changes (such as the development over time of systems of tonal organization in music) that statistical methodologies measure. It asserts that a synthesis between such statistical approaches to the study of music-cultural change and the theory of memetics as applied to music (Jan, 2007), in particular the latter's perceptual-cognitive elements, would harness the strengths of each approach and deepen understanding of cultural evolution in music.

The Evolution of English Language Teaching during Societal Transition in Finland--A Mutual Relationship or a Distinctive Process?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaatinen, Riitta; Saarivirta, Toni

2014-01-01

This study describes the evolution of English language teaching in Finland and looks into the connections of the societal and educational changes in the country as explanatory factors in the process. The results of the study show that the language teaching methodology and the status of foreign languages in Finland are clearly connected to the…

Genetic and Environmental Links between Natural Language Use and Cognitive Ability in Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canfield, Caitlin F.; Edelson, Lisa R.; Saudino, Kimberly J.

2017-01-01

Although the phenotypic correlation between language and nonverbal cognitive ability is well-documented, studies examining the etiology of the covariance between these abilities are scant, particularly in very young children. The goal of this study was to address this gap in the literature by examining the genetic and environmental links between…

Parallel language activation and cognitive control during spoken word recognition in bilinguals

PubMed Central

Blumenfeld, Henrike K.; Marian, Viorica

2013-01-01

Accounts of bilingual cognitive advantages suggest an associative link between cross-linguistic competition and inhibitory control. We investigate this link by examining English-Spanish bilinguals’ parallel language activation during auditory word recognition and nonlinguistic Stroop performance. Thirty-one English-Spanish bilinguals and 30 English monolinguals participated in an eye-tracking study. Participants heard words in English (e.g., comb) and identified corresponding pictures from a display that included pictures of a Spanish competitor (e.g., conejo, English rabbit). Bilinguals with higher Spanish proficiency showed more parallel language activation and smaller Stroop effects than bilinguals with lower Spanish proficiency. Across all bilinguals, stronger parallel language activation between 300–500ms after word onset was associated with smaller Stroop effects; between 633–767ms, reduced parallel language activation was associated with smaller Stroop effects. Results suggest that bilinguals who perform well on the Stroop task show increased cross-linguistic competitor activation during early stages of word recognition and decreased competitor activation during later stages of word recognition. Findings support the hypothesis that cross-linguistic competition impacts domain-general inhibition. PMID:24244842

Encountering Problems at Home and at School: Language and Cognition in Two Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martini, Mary

This paper discusses cognitive communicative training in preschool and reports on a study of 11 Hawaiian preschoolers that examined how these children interacted with others, used language, manipulated objects, and solved problems at home and at school. The study observed the children at school and at home over a 5-month period, collecting…

Assessment of cognition and language in the early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: usefulness of the Bayley Scales of infant and toddler development, third edition

PubMed Central

Gómez‐Morales, A.; González‐Gimeno, I.; Fornieles‐Deu, A.; Brun‐Gasca, C.

2016-01-01

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to test the usefulness of the Cognitive and Language scales Bayley‐III in the early assessment of cognitive and language functions in the context of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. This paper focuses on the application of the Bayley‐III and studies the predictive value of the test result in children with ASD with different levels of verbal ability. Method A sample of 135 children (121 boys, 14 girls) with a confirmed ASD diagnosis at age 4 years were assessed with the Bayley‐III before 42 months of age (m = 36.49, s = 4.46) and later with other rating scales of different psychological and psycholinguistic functions as part of a longitudinal study [McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) (n = 48, 90% boys), Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K‐ABC) (n = 38, 87% boys) or Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) (n = 44, 89% boys)]. Age assessment in months: MSCA (m = 48.80, s = 3.33), K‐ABC (m = 51.80, s = 7.17) and ITPA (m = 54.48, s = 3.34). Results Lower scores on the cognitive and language Bayley‐III scales before 3.5 years of age predicted lower cognitive and oral language levels at 4 years of age. A significant correlation was found between the Cognitive Bayley‐III Scale and the General Cognitive MSCA Scale, and with the Compound K‐ABC Mental Processing. An association between the nonverbal cognitive level and oral language level acquired at 4 years of age was found. Conclusions The Bayley‐III is a useful instrument in cognitive and language assessment of ASD. PMID:27120991

Assessment of cognition and language in the early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: usefulness of the Bayley Scales of infant and toddler development, third edition.

PubMed

Torras-Mañá, M; Gómez-Morales, A; González-Gimeno, I; Fornieles-Deu, A; Brun-Gasca, C

2016-05-01

The aim of this study was to test the usefulness of the Cognitive and Language scales Bayley-III in the early assessment of cognitive and language functions in the context of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. This paper focuses on the application of the Bayley-III and studies the predictive value of the test result in children with ASD with different levels of verbal ability. A sample of 135 children (121 boys, 14 girls) with a confirmed ASD diagnosis at age 4 years were assessed with the Bayley-III before 42 months of age (m = 36.49, s = 4.46) and later with other rating scales of different psychological and psycholinguistic functions as part of a longitudinal study [McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) (n = 48, 90% boys), Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) (n = 38, 87% boys) or Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) (n = 44, 89% boys)]. Age assessment in months: MSCA (m = 48.80, s = 3.33), K-ABC (m = 51.80, s = 7.17) and ITPA (m = 54.48, s = 3.34). Lower scores on the cognitive and language Bayley-III scales before 3.5 years of age predicted lower cognitive and oral language levels at 4 years of age. A significant correlation was found between the Cognitive Bayley-III Scale and the General Cognitive MSCA Scale, and with the Compound K-ABC Mental Processing. An association between the nonverbal cognitive level and oral language level acquired at 4 years of age was found. The Bayley-III is a useful instrument in cognitive and language assessment of ASD. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research published by MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

IV. NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (CB): measuring language (vocabulary comprehension and reading decoding).

PubMed

Gershon, Richard C; Slotkin, Jerry; Manly, Jennifer J; Blitz, David L; Beaumont, Jennifer L; Schnipke, Deborah; Wallner-Allen, Kathleen; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Gleason, Jean Berko; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Adams, Marilyn Jager; Weintraub, Sandra

2013-08-01

Mastery of language skills is an important predictor of daily functioning and health. Vocabulary comprehension and reading decoding are relatively quick and easy to measure and correlate highly with overall cognitive functioning, as well as with success in school and work. New measures of vocabulary comprehension and reading decoding (in both English and Spanish) were developed for the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (CB). In the Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test (TPVT), participants hear a spoken word while viewing four pictures, and then must choose the picture that best represents the word. This approach tests receptive vocabulary knowledge without the need to read or write, removing the literacy load for children who are developing literacy and for adults who struggle with reading and writing. In the Toolbox Oral Reading Recognition Test (TORRT), participants see a letter or word onscreen and must pronounce or identify it. The examiner determines whether it was pronounced correctly by comparing the response to the pronunciation guide on a separate computer screen. In this chapter, we discuss the importance of language during childhood and the relation of language and brain function. We also review the development of the TPVT and TORRT, including information about the item calibration process and results from a validation study. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of the measures are discussed. © 2013 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Exploration as a Mediator of the Relation between the Attainment of Motor Milestones and the Development of Spatial Cognition and Spatial Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oudgenoeg-Paz, Ora; Leseman, Paul P. M.; Volman, M. J. M.

2015-01-01

The embodied-cognition approach views cognition and language as grounded in daily sensorimotor child-environment interactions. Therefore, the attainment of motor milestones is expected to play a role in cognitive-linguistic development. Early attainment of unsupported sitting and independent walking indeed predict better spatial cognition and…

The human socio-cognitive niche and its evolutionary origins

PubMed Central

Whiten, Andrew; Erdal, David

2012-01-01

Hominin evolution took a remarkable pathway, as the foraging strategy extended to large mammalian prey already hunted by a guild of specialist carnivores. How was this possible for a moderately sized ape lacking the formidable anatomical adaptations of these competing ‘professional hunters’? The long-standing answer that this was achieved through the elaboration of a new ‘cognitive niche’ reliant on intelligence and technology is compelling, yet insufficient. Here we present evidence from a diversity of sources supporting the hypothesis that a fuller answer lies in the evolution of a new socio-cognitive niche, the principal components of which include forms of cooperation, egalitarianism, mindreading (also known as ‘theory of mind’), language and cultural transmission, that go far beyond the most comparable phenomena in other primates. This cognitive and behavioural complex allows a human hunter–gatherer band to function as a unique and highly competitive predatory organism. Each of these core components of the socio-cognitive niche is distinctive to humans, but primate research has increasingly identified related capacities that permit inferences about significant ancestral cognitive foundations to the five pillars of the human social cognitive niche listed earlier. The principal focus of the present study was to review and integrate this range of recent comparative discoveries. PMID:22734055

The human socio-cognitive niche and its evolutionary origins.

PubMed

Whiten, Andrew; Erdal, David

2012-08-05

Hominin evolution took a remarkable pathway, as the foraging strategy extended to large mammalian prey already hunted by a guild of specialist carnivores. How was this possible for a moderately sized ape lacking the formidable anatomical adaptations of these competing 'professional hunters'? The long-standing answer that this was achieved through the elaboration of a new 'cognitive niche' reliant on intelligence and technology is compelling, yet insufficient. Here we present evidence from a diversity of sources supporting the hypothesis that a fuller answer lies in the evolution of a new socio-cognitive niche, the principal components of which include forms of cooperation, egalitarianism, mindreading (also known as 'theory of mind'), language and cultural transmission, that go far beyond the most comparable phenomena in other primates. This cognitive and behavioural complex allows a human hunter-gatherer band to function as a unique and highly competitive predatory organism. Each of these core components of the socio-cognitive niche is distinctive to humans, but primate research has increasingly identified related capacities that permit inferences about significant ancestral cognitive foundations to the five pillars of the human social cognitive niche listed earlier. The principal focus of the present study was to review and integrate this range of recent comparative discoveries.

A neuropsychological perspective on the link between language and praxis in modern humans

PubMed Central

Roby-Brami, Agnes; Hermsdörfer, Joachim; Roy, Alice C.; Jacobs, Stéphane

2012-01-01

Hypotheses about the emergence of human cognitive abilities postulate strong evolutionary links between language and praxis, including the possibility that language was originally gestural. The present review considers functional and neuroanatomical links between language and praxis in brain-damaged patients with aphasia and/or apraxia. The neural systems supporting these functions are predominantly located in the left hemisphere. There are many parallels between action and language for recognition, imitation and gestural communication suggesting that they rely partially on large, common networks, differentially recruited depending on the nature of the task. However, this relationship is not unequivocal and the production and understanding of gestural communication are dependent on the context in apraxic patients and remains to be clarified in aphasic patients. The phonological, semantic and syntactic levels of language seem to share some common cognitive resources with the praxic system. In conclusion, neuropsychological observations do not allow support or rejection of the hypothesis that gestural communication may have constituted an evolutionary link between tool use and language. Rather they suggest that the complexity of human behaviour is based on large interconnected networks and on the evolution of specific properties within strategic areas of the left cerebral hemisphere. PMID:22106433

Moderating effects of maternal emotional availability on language and cognitive development in toddlers of mothers exposed to a natural disaster in pregnancy: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study.

PubMed

Austin, Marie-Paule; Christl, Bettina; McMahon, Cathy; Kildea, Sue; Reilly, Nicole; Yin, Carolyn; Simcock, Gabrielle; Elgbeili, Guillaume; Laplante, David P; King, Suzanne

2017-11-01

Prenatal maternal stress exposure has been linked to sub-optimal developmental outcomes in toddlers, while maternal emotional availability is associated with better cognitive and language abilities. It is less clear whether early care-giving relationships can moderate the impact of prenatal stress on child development. The current study investigates the impact of stress during pregnancy resulting from the Queensland Floods in 2011 on toddlers' cognitive and language development, and examines how maternal emotional availability is associated with these outcomes. Data were available from 131 families. Measures of prenatal stress (objective hardship, cognitive appraisal, and three measures of maternal subjective stress) were collected within one year of the 2011 Queensland floods. Maternal emotional availability was rated from video-taped mother-child play sessions at 16 months: sensitivity (e.g., affective connection, responsiveness to signals) and structuring (e.g., scaffolding, guidance, limit-setting). The toddlers' cognitive and language development was assessed at 30 months. Interactions were tested to determine whether maternal emotional availability moderated the relationship between prenatal maternal stress and toddler cognitive and language functioning. Prenatal stress was not correlated with toddlers' cognitive and language development at 30 months. Overall, the higher the maternal structuring and sensitivity, the better the toddlers' cognitive outcomes. However, significant interactions showed that the effects of maternal structuring on toddler language abilities depended on the degree of prenatal maternal subjective stress: when maternal subjective stress was above fairly low levels, the greater the maternal structuring, the higher the child vocabulary level. The current study highlights the importance of maternal emotional availability, especially structuring, for cognitive and language development in young children. Findings suggest that toddlers

The Evolution of the Exponent of Zipf's Law in Language Ontogeny

PubMed Central

Baixeries, Jaume; Elvevåg, Brita; Ferrer-i-Cancho, Ramon

2013-01-01

It is well-known that word frequencies arrange themselves according to Zipf's law. However, little is known about the dependency of the parameters of the law and the complexity of a communication system. Many models of the evolution of language assume that the exponent of the law remains constant as the complexity of a communication systems increases. Using longitudinal studies of child language, we analysed the word rank distribution for the speech of children and adults participating in conversations. The adults typically included family members (e.g., parents) or the investigators conducting the research. Our analysis of the evolution of Zipf's law yields two main unexpected results. First, in children the exponent of the law tends to decrease over time while this tendency is weaker in adults, thus suggesting this is not a mere mirror effect of adult speech. Second, although the exponent of the law is more stable in adults, their exponents fall below 1 which is the typical value of the exponent assumed in both children and adults. Our analysis also shows a tendency of the mean length of utterances (MLU), a simple estimate of syntactic complexity, to increase as the exponent decreases. The parallel evolution of the exponent and a simple indicator of syntactic complexity (MLU) supports the hypothesis that the exponent of Zipf's law and linguistic complexity are inter-related. The assumption that Zipf's law for word ranks is a power-law with a constant exponent of one in both adults and children needs to be revised. PMID:23516390

Processing structure in language and music: a case for shared reliance on cognitive control.

PubMed

Slevc, L Robert; Okada, Brooke M

2015-06-01

The relationship between structural processing in music and language has received increasing interest in the past several years, spurred by the influential Shared Syntactic Integration Resource Hypothesis (SSIRH; Patel, Nature Neuroscience, 6, 674-681, 2003). According to this resource-sharing framework, music and language rely on separable syntactic representations but recruit shared cognitive resources to integrate these representations into evolving structures. The SSIRH is supported by findings of interactions between structural manipulations in music and language. However, other recent evidence suggests that such interactions also can arise with nonstructural manipulations, and some recent neuroimaging studies report largely nonoverlapping neural regions involved in processing musical and linguistic structure. These conflicting results raise the question of exactly what shared (and distinct) resources underlie musical and linguistic structural processing. This paper suggests that one shared resource is prefrontal cortical mechanisms of cognitive control, which are recruited to detect and resolve conflict that occurs when expectations are violated and interpretations must be revised. By this account, musical processing involves not just the incremental processing and integration of musical elements as they occur, but also the incremental generation of musical predictions and expectations, which must sometimes be overridden and revised in light of evolving musical input.

How Sex, Native Language, and College Major Relate to the Cognitive Strategies Used during 3-D Mental Rotation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Yingli; O'Boyle, Michael W.

2008-01-01

Eighty college students mentally rotated 3-D shapes while maintaining a concurrent verbal or spatial memory load to investigate how sex, native language, and college major relate to the cognitive strategies employed during mental rotation (MR). Males were significantly better than females at MR, whereas native language was not related to MR…

Broca's arrow: evolution, prediction, and language in the brain.

PubMed

Cooper, David L

2006-01-01

Brodmann's areas 44 and 45 in the human brain, also known as Broca's area, have long been associated with language functions, especially in the left hemisphere. However, the precise role Broca's area plays in human language has not been established with certainty. Broca's area has homologs in the great apes and in area F5 in monkeys, which suggests that its original function was not linguistic at all. In fact, great ape and hominid brains show very similar left-over-right asymmetries in Broca's area homologs as well as in other areas, such as homologs to Wernicke's area, that are normally associated with language in modern humans. Moreover, the so-called mirror neurons are located in Broca's area in great apes and area F5 in monkeys, which seem to provide a representation of cause and effect in a primate's environment, particularly its social environment. Humans appear to have these mirror neurons in Broca's area as well. Similarly, genetic evidence related to the FOXP2 gene implicates Broca's area in linguistic function and dysfunction, but the gene itself is a highly conserved developmental gene in vertebrates and is shared with only two or three differences between humans and great apes, five between humans and mice, and eight between humans and songbirds. Taking neurons and portions of the brain as discrete computational segments in the sense of constituting specific Turing machines, this evidence points to a predictive motor and conceptual function for Broca's area in primates, especially for social concepts. In human language, this is consistent with evidence from typological and cognitive linguistics. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Computer simulation as an important approach to explore language universal. Comment on "Dependency distance: a new perspective on syntactic patterns in natural languages" by Haitao Liu et al.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Qian

2017-07-01

Exploring language universal is one of the major goals of linguistic researches, which are largely devoted to answering the ;Platonic questions; in linguistics, that is, what is the language knowledge, how to get and use this knowledge. However, if solely guided by linguistic intuition, it is very difficult for syntactic studies to answer these questions, or to achieve abstractions in the scientific sense. This suggests that linguistic analyses based on the probability theory may provide effective ways to investigate into language universals in terms of biological motivations or cognitive psychological mechanisms. With the view that ;Language is a human-driven system;, Liu, Xu & Liang's review [1] pointed out that dependency distance minimization (DDM), which has been corroborated by big data analysis of corpus, may be a language universal shaped in language evolution, a universal that has profound effect on syntactic patterns.

Developmental plasticity and language: A comparative perspective

PubMed Central

Griebel, Ulrike; Pepperberg, Irene; Oller, D. Kimbrough

2016-01-01

The growing field of evo-devo is increasingly demonstrating the complexity of steps involved in genetic, intracellular regulatory, and extracellular environmental control of the development of phenotypes. A key result of such work is an account for the remarkable plasticity of organismal form in many species based on relatively minor changes in regulation of highly conserved genes and genetic processes. Accounting for behavioral plasticity is of similar potential interest but has received far less attention. Of particular interest is plasticity in communication systems, where human language represents an ultimate target for research. The present paper considers plasticity of language capabilities in a comparative framework, focusing attention on examples of a remarkable fact: Whereas there exist design features of mature human language that have never been observed to occur in nonhumans in the wild, many of these features can be developed to notable extents when nonhumans are enculturated through human training (especially with intensive social interaction). These examples of enculturated developmental plasticity across extremely diverse taxa suggest, consistent with the evo-devo theme of highly conserved processes in evolution, that human language is founded in part on cognitive capabilities that are indeed ancient and that even modern humans show self-organized emergence of many language capabilities in the context of rich enculturation, built on the special social/ecological history of the hominin line. Human culture can thus be seen as a regulatory system encouraging language development in the context of a cognitive background with many highly conserved features. PMID:27003391

A natural language-based presentation of cognitive stimulation to people with dementia in assistive technology: A pilot study.

PubMed

Dethlefs, Nina; Milders, Maarten; Cuayáhuitl, Heriberto; Al-Salkini, Turkey; Douglas, Lorraine

2017-12-01

Currently, an estimated 36 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. In the absence of a cure, non-pharmacological interventions, such as cognitive stimulation, which slow down the rate of deterioration can benefit people with dementia and their caregivers. Such interventions have shown to improve well-being and slow down the rate of cognitive decline. It has further been shown that cognitive stimulation in interaction with a computer is as effective as with a human. However, the need to operate a computer often represents a difficulty for the elderly and stands in the way of widespread adoption. A possible solution to this obstacle is to provide a spoken natural language interface that allows people with dementia to interact with the cognitive stimulation software in the same way as they would interact with a human caregiver. This makes the assistive technology accessible to users regardless of their technical skills and provides a fully intuitive user experience. This article describes a pilot study that evaluated the feasibility of computer-based cognitive stimulation through a spoken natural language interface. Prototype software was evaluated with 23 users, including healthy elderly people and people with dementia. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Motor system evolution and the emergence of high cognitive functions.

PubMed

Mendoza, Germán; Merchant, Hugo

2014-11-01

In human and nonhuman primates, the cortical motor system comprises a collection of brain areas primarily related to motor control. Existing evidence suggests that no other mammalian group has the number, extension, and complexity of motor-related areas observed in the frontal lobe of primates. Such diversity is probably related to the wide behavioral flexibility that primates display. Indeed, recent comparative anatomical, psychophysical, and neurophysiological studies suggest that the evolution of the motor cortical areas closely correlates with the emergence of high cognitive abilities. Advances in understanding the cortical motor system have shown that these areas are also related to functions previously linked to higher-order associative areas. In addition, experimental observations have shown that the classical distinction between perceptual and motor functions is not strictly followed across cortical areas. In this paper, we review evidence suggesting that evolution of the motor system had a role in the shaping of different cognitive functions in primates. We argue that the increase in the complexity of the motor system has contributed to the emergence of new abilities observed in human and nonhuman primates, including the recognition and imitation of the actions of others, speech perception and production, and the execution and appreciation of the rhythmic structure of music. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of brief language tests in the detection of cognitive decline and dementia

PubMed Central

Radanovic, Marcia; Carthery-Goulart, Maria Teresa; Charchat-Fichman, Helenice; Herrera Jr., Emílio; Lima, Edson Erasmo Pereira; Smid, Jerusa; Porto, Cláudia Sellitto; Nitrini, Ricardo

2007-01-01

Lexical access difficulties are frequent in normal aging and initial stages of dementia.Verbal fluency tests are valuable to detect cognitive decline, evidencing lexico-semantic and executive dysfunction. Objectives To establish which language tests can contribute in detecting dementia and to verify schooling influence on subject performance. Method 74 subjects: 33 controls, 17 Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) 0.5 and 24 (Brief Cognitive Battery - BCB e Boston Naming Test - BNT) 1 were compared in tests of semantic verbal fluency (animal and fruit), picture naming (BCB and BNT) and the language items of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results There were significant differences between the control group and both CDR 0.5 and CDR 1 in all tests. Cut-off scores were: 11 and 10 for animal fluency, 8 for fruit fluency (in both), 8 and 9 for BCB naming. The CDR 0.5 group performed better than the CDR 1 group only in animal fluency. Stepwise multiple regression revealed fruit fluency, animal fluency and BCB naming as the best discriminators between patients and controls (specificity: 93.8%; sensitivity: 91.3%). In controls, comparison between illiterates and literates evidenced schooling influence in all tests, except for fruit fluency and BCB naming. In patients with dementia, only fruit fluency was uninfluenced by schooling. Conclusion The combination of verbal fluency tests in two semantic categories along with a simple picture naming test is highly sensitive in detecting cognitive decline. Comparison between literate and illiterate subjects shows a lesser degree of influence of schooling on the selected tests, thus improving discrimination between low performance and incipient cognitive decline. PMID:29213366

Cognitive and language skills of Turkish children in Germany: a comparison of the second and third generation and mixed generational groups.

PubMed

Becker, Birgit

2011-01-01

The paper compares several generational groups of Turkish children in Germany with respect to cognitive skills and German language skills at an early age. Empirically, children of inter-marriages outperform the other groups of Turkish children in both tests while children with a first generation mother and a second generation father score worse than all others. All group differences regarding children’s cognitive skills can be explained by the families’ socio-economic status and educational resources. In contrast, with respect to children’s language skills also parents’ endowment with receiving country specific resources (e.g., parental German language proficiency) needs to be taken into account.

Nondeclarative learning in children with specific language impairment: predicting regularities in the visuomotor, phonological, and cognitive domains.