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Related Concept Videos

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

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...
Language and Cognition01:27

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.
Components of Language01:24

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...
Functionalism01:11

Functionalism

William James, John Dewey, and Charles Sanders Peirce were instrumental in founding functional psychology, which draws heavily from Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. This theory suggests that individual traits, including behaviors, are adapted to their environments through natural selection. At the heart of functionalism is the concept of adaptation, meaning that a trait enhances an individual's chances of survival and reproduction.
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Statistical Significance01:37

Statistical Significance

Once data is collected from both the experimental and the control groups, a statistical analysis is conducted to find out if there are meaningful differences between the two groups. A statistical analysis determines how likely any difference found is due to chance (and thus not meaningful). In psychology, group differences are considered meaningful, or significant, if the odds that these differences occurred by chance alone are 5 percent or less. Stated another way, if we repeated this...
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The most basic experimental design involves two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The two groups are designed to be the same except for one difference— experimental manipulation. The experimental group gets the experimental manipulation—that is, the treatment or variable being tested—and the control group does not. Since experimental manipulation is the only difference between the experimental and control groups, we can be sure that any differences between the two are due to...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
05:31

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

The functions of language: an experimental study.

Gina Redhead1, R I M Dunbar

  • 1Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Evolutionary Psychology : an International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior
|August 16, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Humans better recall social stories than ecological ones, suggesting language initially evolved for social interaction. This social tool may have later developed specialized functions like mate advertising or information exchange.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • The evolutionary origins of language remain a significant scientific question.
  • Several hypotheses propose language's primary function, including social gossip, social contracts, mate advertising, and factual information exchange.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically test competing hypotheses regarding the primary evolutionary function of human language.
  • To investigate whether social content or linguistic style influences information recall.

Main Methods:

  • A recall paradigm was employed to assess memory for different types of information presented in stories.
  • Participants were tested on their ability to recall social content (gossip, contracts, romance) versus ecological information.

Main Results:

  • Subjects demonstrated significantly better recall for stories containing social content compared to ecological information.
  • Recall rates for ecological stories were not enhanced by the use of flamboyant language, challenging the "Scheherazade effect" as content-independent.

Conclusions:

  • The findings support the hypothesis that language initially evolved as a general-purpose social tool.
  • Specialized functions of language, such as sexual advertising or information exchange, may have emerged later through evolutionary processes.