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Related Concept Videos

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
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Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

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Language did not spring forth 100,000 years ago.

Philip Lieberman1

  • 1Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.

Plos Biology
|February 14, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Language evolved gradually from ancient capabilities, not a recent "merge" innovation. Phillip Lieberman argues against recent evolutionary leaps in human language origins.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive science

Background:

  • The origin of human language is a complex and debated topic.
  • Johan Bolhuis and co-authors proposed a recent key innovation ('merge') as the driver of language evolution.
  • Phillip Lieberman offers a contrasting perspective based on gradual evolutionary processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present an alternative theory on the evolutionary origins of language.
  • To challenge the 'merge' hypothesis as the primary driver of language development.
  • To emphasize the role of gradual evolution of pre-existing capabilities.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of linguistic and cognitive abilities across species.
  • Review of fossil and archaeological evidence for hominin cognitive evolution.
  • Theoretical argumentation based on evolutionary principles.

Main Results:

  • Language likely arose through the gradual modification and integration of ancient cognitive and vocal capabilities.
  • The 'merge' hypothesis may oversimplify the complex, long-term evolutionary trajectory of language.
  • Evidence suggests a protracted evolutionary process rather than a singular, recent event.

Conclusions:

  • Human language evolved incrementally over a long period, building upon pre-existing ancient capacities.
  • Attributing language solely to a recent innovation like 'merge' overlooks the gradual nature of biological and cognitive evolution.
  • A more comprehensive understanding of language evolution requires considering the cumulative changes in ancient capabilities.