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

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

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.

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...

Components of Language

Components of Language

Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs. “eh”). Phonemes combine to...

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...

Interference and Decay

Interference and Decay

Forgetting is a complex cognitive phenomenon influenced by several factors, among which interference and decay are particularly prominent. These processes explain why individuals often struggle to retrieve specific information from memory, leading to lapses in recall that can be observed in everyday situations.
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...

Lateralization

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Dissociation between physical reasoning and tool use in individuals with left hemisphere brain damage.

Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior·2026

Same author

The contribution and mode of integration of parvocellular and magnocellular information in the course of shape orientation perception.

Cognitive neuropsychology·2026

Same author

Dissociation between physical reasoning and tool use in individuals with left hemisphere brain damage.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Neural representation of nouns and verbs in congenitally blind and sighted individuals.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Distinct neural correlates of morphosyntactic and thematic comprehension processes in aphasia.

Brain communications·2025

Same author

Dissociating goal from outcome during action observation.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges

Published on: January 26, 2024

Interactivity and continuity in normal and aphasic language production.

Wheeler Ruml¹, Alfonso Caramazza, Rita Capasso

¹Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.

Cognitive Neuropsychology

|November 2, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cognitive models of language production often assume interactive processing, but new data from 50 Italian aphasic patients challenges this. Findings suggest patient behavior does not support interactive theories in word production.

More Related Videos

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking (IPL): Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking (IPL): Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism

Published on: December 14, 2012

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges

Published on: January 26, 2024

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking (IPL): Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking (IPL): Investigating Language Comprehension in Typically Developing Toddlers and Young Children with Autism

Published on: December 14, 2012

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Psycholinguistics
Neuroscience

Background:

Cognitive modeling in language production frequently relies on interactive spreading-activation theories.
Previous research often used patient data to support interactive models of word production.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate existing word production theories based on interactive spreading-activation in the context of picture naming.
To test whether data from Italian aphasic patients supports interactive cognitive models of language production.

Main Methods:

Analysis of a new corpus of data from 50 Italian aphasic patients.
Evaluation of previously proposed word production theories against patient naming performance.

Main Results:

Patient performance patterns in picture naming did not necessitate an interactive theory.
Corollary assumptions of continuity and global damage in aphasia were found to be incompatible with the collected data.

Conclusions:

Current cognitive modeling studies face challenges in providing strong constraints for cognitive theory.
The findings suggest that existing modeling efforts do not currently offer evidence for interactive processing in language production.