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Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

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Turn-taking in Human Communication--Origins and Implications for Language Processing.

Stephen C Levinson¹

¹Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Wundtlaan 1, NL-6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

|December 15, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Interactive language use features rapid turn-taking with compressed cognitive processing. This system, appearing early in development and across primates, offers insights into language evolution and acquisition.

Keywords:

child language conversation language evolution language processing pragmatics turn-taking

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Linguistics
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Most human language interaction involves rapid turn-taking.
This interactive system exhibits complex properties like short, rapid responses and compressed cognitive processing despite varying turn lengths.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the implications of the turn-taking system for language processing and acquisition.
To investigate the developmental and phylogenetic origins of this interactive language system.

Main Methods:

Analysis of the properties of conversational turn-taking.
Comparison of turn-taking emergence in ontogeny and its presence across primate clades.

Main Results:

The turn-taking system demonstrates highly compressed cognitive processing.
Turn-taking emerges earlier in development than full linguistic competence.
The system is observed across major primate groups.

Conclusions:

The interactive turn-taking system has significant, underappreciated implications for understanding language processing and acquisition.
The early ontogenetic appearance and cross-primate distribution suggest phylogenetic continuity, offering crucial insights into the evolution of human language.