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Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Basic auditory processing skills and specific language impairment: a new look at an old hypothesis.

Kathleen Corriveau¹, Elizabeth Pasquini, Usha Goswami

¹Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR

|June 1, 2007

Summary

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) often struggle with auditory processing, particularly with sound duration and amplitude cues. These auditory difficulties significantly impact language and literacy development.

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Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery

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Last Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

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Published on: July 1, 2015

Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery

Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery

Published on: October 11, 2010

Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

Specific language impairment (SLI) affects language acquisition in children.
Auditory processing is crucial for understanding speech rhythm and stress.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the sensitivity of children with SLI to amplitude-modulated and durational speech cues.
To determine the relationship between auditory processing of these cues and language/literacy outcomes.

Main Methods:

Tested 63 children (7-11 years), including 21 with SLI, 21 age-matched controls, and 21 language-matched controls.
Administered nonspeech auditory processing tasks and standardized language/phonology measures.

Main Results:

70-80% of children with SLI performed below the 5th percentile in processing sound duration and amplitude envelope rise time compared to controls.
Individual differences in sensitivity to these auditory cues predicted language and literacy attainment, independent of IQ and attention.

Conclusions:

Children with SLI frequently exhibit auditory processing deficits.
Sensitivity to duration and amplitude envelope cues, rather than rapid acoustic cues, is a stronger predictor of language and literacy outcomes.
Further research is needed in diverse linguistic contexts.