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Related Concept Videos

Language Development01:22

Language Development

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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.
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...
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Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

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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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Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

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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...
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Language01:16

Language

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Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...
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Three Developmental Domains01:29

Three Developmental Domains

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Human development is typically examined across three main domains: physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional. These domains represent the significant areas of change and continuity throughout the lifespan, from infancy to late adulthood.
Physical Development
Physical processes, also known as maturation, encompass the biological changes that occur across an individual's life. These changes begin with genetic inheritance and continue through various stages, including growth in height and weight,...
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Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 24, 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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Experience-Dependent Brain Development as a Key to Understanding the Language System.

Gert Westermann1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Lancaster University.

Topics in Cognitive Science
|March 4, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study proposes a neuroconstructivist model where language emerges from experience-dependent brain development and statistical learning, shaping specialized circuits for language processing.

Keywords:
Connectionist modelingEmergent modularityEnglish past tenseExperience-dependent brain developmentMassive modularityNeuroconstructivism

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Traditional views posit language as a rule-based system or based on associative processes.
  • Connectionist models offer an alternative, focusing on complex associative mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a third view of the language system emphasizing experience-dependent structural brain development.
  • To introduce a neuroconstructivist neural network model for past tense development and processing.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a neuroconstructivist neural network model.
  • Simulating interactions between experience-dependent brain development and statistical learning.
  • Analyzing the co-development and interaction of rule and exception processing mechanisms.

Main Results:

  • The model demonstrates how domain-general predispositions lead to specialized brain structures for language.
  • Experience-dependent development and statistical learning shape the adult language system.
  • Apparent separation of rule and exception processing emerges from co-developing, interacting subsystems.

Conclusions:

  • Language system organization is fundamentally shaped by experience-dependent brain development.
  • This perspective is crucial for understanding both language acquisition and adult language processing.
  • The neuroconstructivist approach highlights the integrated nature of language mechanisms.