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Related Concept Videos

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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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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Components of Language01:24

Components of Language

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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.
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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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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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Integration of Synaptic Events01:28

Integration of Synaptic Events

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Synaptic integration mainly includes the summation of graded potentials. Graded potentials, regardless of their type, cause subtle alterations in membrane voltage, resulting in either depolarization or hyperpolarization. These incremental changes, when combined or summed, can propel the neuron toward its threshold. Consider, for example, a membrane experiencing a +15 mV shift, causing it to depolarize from -70 mV to -55 mV. In this scenario, graded potentials govern the membrane's ability to...
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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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Seeking Synthesis: The Integrative Problem in Understanding Language and Its Evolution.

Rick Dale1, Christopher T Kello1, P Thomas Schoenemann2

  • 1Cognitive & Information Sciences, University of California, Merced.

Topics in Cognitive Science
|March 19, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study explores language as both sequenced and synergistic behavior, highlighting the understudied multidimensional structure. Understanding these synergies in human brain evolution offers new insights into language learning and use.

Keywords:
Brain evolutionDynamicsLanguage evolutionMultimodalNeural networks

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Neuroscience
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Language is understood as both a sequenced behavior and a multidimensionally structured behavior.
  • The multidimensional structure of language is less studied than its sequential aspects.
  • Human brain evolution and computational implications are key to understanding cognitive function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the dual nature of language as sequenced and multidimensionally structured.
  • To investigate the role of multimodal and multiscale organization in cognitive function related to language.
  • To propose framing language evolution, learning, and use in terms of synergies for new research directions.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of language structure and human brain evolution.
  • Identification of multimodal and multiscale organization as key characteristics of cognitive function.
  • Argument for a synergy-based framework for studying language.

Main Results:

  • Human brains evolved to integrate diverse information sources and operate at multiple levels for linguistic performance.
  • Multimodal and multiscale organization are identified as crucial for emerging cognitive functions in humans.
  • The synergy framework offers a new perspective on language as an integrated system.

Conclusions:

  • Framing language in terms of synergies provides a fruitful direction for theoretical and modeling developments.
  • Understanding the multidimensional structure of language is crucial for a comprehensive scientific understanding.
  • Synergies in language processing are linked to evolutionary adaptations in human brain organization.