Working memory and language comprehension: A meta-analysis

M Daneman1, P M Merikle

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, L5L 1C6, Mississauga, ON, Canada, daneman@psych.utoronto.ca.

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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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