Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Components of Language

Components of Language

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.

Language Development

Language Development

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...

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

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.

Genetic Lingo

Genetic Lingo

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Large language models are not about natural language.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026

Same author

Correction: An exploratory study of behavioral traits and the establishment of social relationships in female laboratory rats.

PloS one·2026

Same author

Exploratory responses of rats to cage-mates and conspecifics from another cage in a habituation-dishabituation paradigm with multiple habituation stimuli.

Behavioural processes·2026

Same author

Beyond dichotomy: Diversity of ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.

Behavioural brain research·2026

Same author

Domestication Effects on Immune Response: Comparison of Phytohemagglutinin-Induced Skin Swelling in Domesticated Bengalese Finch and Its Wild Ancestor, White-Rumped Munia.

Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology·2026

Same author

What enables human language? A biocultural framework.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

What do animals learn in artificial grammar studies?

Gabriël J L Beckers¹, Robert C Berwick², Kazuo Okanoya³

¹Cognitive Neurobiology and Helmholtz Institute, Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

|December 27, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Artificial grammar learning in animals may be flawed. Acoustic similarities in stimuli, not grammar rules, might explain animal responses, suggesting a need to re-evaluate sequence learning studies.

Keywords:

Animal cognition Artificial grammar learning Auditory memory Biolinguistics Bird Primate Rule learning Syntax

More Related Videos

Computer-Generated Animal Model Stimuli

Computer-Generated Animal Model Stimuli

Published on: July 29, 2007

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published on: October 3, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

Computer-Generated Animal Model Stimuli

Computer-Generated Animal Model Stimuli

Published on: July 29, 2007

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published on: October 3, 2018

Area of Science:

Animal Cognition
Comparative Psychology
Bioacoustics

Background:

Artificial grammar learning (AGL) is used to assess nonhuman animal syntactic abilities.
AGL involves training subjects on rule-based token strings and testing discrimination between grammatical and ungrammatical sequences.
Simpler acoustic cues can confound results if not properly controlled.

Purpose of the Study:

To review stimulus design in AGL studies using sounds as tokens.
To assess acoustic similarity between training and test stimuli in selected AGL research.
To identify potential acoustic confounds that may influence sequence rule learning interpretations.

Main Methods:

Analysis of stimulus sets from AGL studies employing auditory tokens.
Application of four quantitative measures to assess acoustic similarity between training and test strings.
Evaluation of potential biases in acoustic properties of grammar-consistent versus grammar-violating stimuli.

Main Results:

All reviewed stimulus sets exhibited acoustic biases.
Grammatical test stimuli were acoustically more similar to training stimuli than ungrammatical ones.
These acoustic biases offer alternative explanations for observed discrimination behaviors.

Conclusions:

Acoustic confounds represent a significant oversight in AGL research with nonhuman animals.
The findings challenge interpretations of sequence rule learning based solely on grammaticality.
Future AGL studies require rigorous control of acoustic stimulus properties.