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Language as cognitive tool kit: How language supports relational thought.
1Department of Psychology, Northwestern University.
The American Psychologist
|December 16, 2016
Summary
Language acts as a cognitive toolkit, enhancing our ability to represent and reason. Learning relational language specifically boosts relational reasoning, a key aspect of higher-order cognition, suggesting language acquisition makes us smarter.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
- Psychology
Background:
- The extreme Whorfian hypothesis, stating language dictates worldview, is largely discredited.
- Moderate views on language influencing thought are gaining empirical traction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To defend the view that language acts as a cognitive toolkit.
- To present evidence that language acquisition enhances cognitive abilities.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing empirical support for language influencing thought.
- Theoretical defense of language as a cognitive tool.
Main Results:
- Language provides a symbolic system essential for complex representation and reasoning.
- Learning relational language demonstrably improves relational reasoning skills.
Conclusions:
- Language acquisition, particularly of relational terms, enhances higher-order cognition.
- Language functions as a crucial cognitive tool, augmenting intellectual capacity.
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