Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Reflex Activity

Reflex Activity

A reflex activity is an automatic, involuntary response to specific stimuli. It is a part of our survival mechanism, designed to protect us from potential harm. For example, when a bright light suddenly shines into our eyes, we instinctively close them or look away. This is a simple reflex activity orchestrated by the nervous system without conscious thought or effort.
A reflex exam is a diagnostic procedure performed by a healthcare professional to evaluate the functionality of a patient's...

Somatic Spinal Reflexes

Somatic Spinal Reflexes

Somatic spinal reflexes are rapid, involuntary muscular responses to external stimuli that involve the somatic musculature and the spinal cord.
One of the most well-known somatic spinal reflexes is the stretch reflex, which is activated by the sudden stretching of a muscle. This reflex involves the activation of specialized sensory receptors called muscle spindles, which are located in the muscle tissue and detect changes in the length and speed of muscle contractions. When a muscle is suddenly...

Language Development

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic processing refers to the cognitive operations that occur without conscious intent or awareness, playing a fundamental role in shaping social cognition and behavior. These processes enable individuals to navigate complex social environments efficiently by relying on mental shortcuts and pre-existing knowledge structures known as schemas. One of the most influential mechanisms underlying automatic processing is priming, which subtly activates mental representations through exposure to...

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...

Introduction to Learning

Introduction to Learning

Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills through practice or experience, leading to long-lasting behavioral changes. This acquisition occurs through interaction with the environment and requires practice or experience. For instance, mastering a skill such as surfing requires considerable practice and experience, highlighting the essential role of repeated interactions with the environment in learning.
In contrast to learned behaviors, unlearned behaviors such as crying, sexual...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Completing the loop with BabyX: harnessing a novel interactive experimental tool to uncover how infants' communicative signals shape caregivers' interactive responsiveness.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2026

Same author

Deconstructing and reconstructing turn-taking in caregiver-infant interactions: a platform for embodied models of early cooperation.

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand·2024

Same author

A Neural Network Model for Learning 3D Object Representations Through Haptic Exploration.

Frontiers in neurorobotics·2021

Same author

Event-Predictive Cognition: A Root for Conceptual Human Thought.

Topics in cognitive science·2020

Same author

Roles for Event Representations in Sensorimotor Experience, Memory Formation, and Language Processing.

Topics in cognitive science·2020

Same author

Learning, planning, and control in a monolithic neural event inference architecture.

Neural networks : the official journal of the International Neural Network Society·2019

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published on: October 3, 2018

Do sensorimotor processes have reflexes in sentence syntax as well as sentence semantics?

Alistair Knott¹

¹Department of Computer Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand alik@cs.otago.ac.nz http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/staffpriv/alik/

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|February 5, 2008

Summary

Predicate logic aids natural language semantics. This study supports Hurford's theory linking linguistic structures to human sensorimotor architecture, extending it to include syntax.

More Related Videos

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

Published on: May 3, 2018

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential (ERP) Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential (ERP) Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Published on: April 12, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published on: October 3, 2018

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

Published on: May 3, 2018

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential (ERP) Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential (ERP) Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Published on: April 12, 2018

Area of Science:

Linguistics
Cognitive Science
Computational Linguistics

Background:

Predicate logic is a valuable tool for natural language semantics.
Hurford proposed that predicate-argument structures reflect human sensorimotor architecture, explaining the utility of predicate logic.
This connection offers insights into the relationship between language and cognitive architecture.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate Hurford's hypothesis on the link between linguistic structures and sensorimotor architecture.
To investigate the extent to which predicate-argument structures in natural language semantics and syntax align with sensorimotor properties.
To provide a theoretical framework for understanding the cognitive underpinnings of language.

Main Methods:

Analysis of predicate-argument structures in natural language.
Comparison of linguistic structures with proposed sensorimotor architecture properties.
Theoretical modeling of the correspondences between language and sensorimotor systems.

Main Results:

The study supports Hurford's core idea that predicate-argument structures relate to sensorimotor architecture.
Evidence suggests that these correspondences extend beyond semantics to encompass elements of natural language syntax.
The findings highlight a deeper integration of syntax within the sensorimotor-linguistic framework.

Conclusions:

Hurford's hypothesis is supported and extended, demonstrating a broader connection between language and sensorimotor systems.
The findings suggest that both semantic and syntactic aspects of language are influenced by human sensorimotor architecture.
This research contributes to understanding the cognitive basis of language structure and processing.