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Key cognitive preconditions for the evolution of language.
1Professor Emeritus, Psychology Department, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada. donaldm@queensu.ca.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|July 3, 2016
Summary
Human language evolved with culture, driven by skill refinement and material culture. Mimetic expression and brain adaptations were crucial for language development and complex communication systems.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Anthropology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Language is a socially constructed system co-evolving with human culture.
- Key preconditions for cultural evolution include skill refinement and material culture for knowledge accumulation.
- Early hominin adaptations in toolmaking and material culture laid the groundwork for complex communication.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the evolutionary trajectory of language and its connection to culture.
- To identify the preconditions and adaptive pressures that led to the development of spoken language.
- To understand the role of mimetic expression in the emergence and acquisition of language.
Main Methods:
- The study employs a theoretical and integrative approach, synthesizing evidence from evolutionary biology, anthropology, and cognitive science.
- It analyzes the co-evolution of culture, brain development, and communication systems in hominins.
- The research examines the role of 'mimetic' expression and skill rehearsal in language evolution.
Main Results:
- Language evolved alongside culture, influenced by the need for complex social interactions and distributed cognition.
- Skill refinement and material culture provided the foundation for symbolic expression and cumulative knowledge.
- Mimetic abilities, including ritual and proto-words, preceded spoken language and were crucial for its development.
- Hominid brain evolution, particularly in integrative and metacognitive systems, adapted to increasingly complex cultural and linguistic environments.
Conclusions:
- Spoken language emerged from voco-mimesis, long after foundational cognitive and cultural abilities developed.
- Self-monitoring and practice were essential for lexical invention and the evolution of complex communication.
- The human brain continuously adapted to assimilate language, with significant expansion in higher integrative systems over the past half million years.
- Mimetic expression remains fundamental in modern media, religion, and politics due to its deep evolutionary roots.
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