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

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.

Language

Language

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...

Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.

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...

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.

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

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...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Perceptual rationality: an evolutionary game theory of perceptually rational decision-making.

Royal Society open science·2025

Same author

Allocentric flocking.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

The behavioral mechanisms governing collective motion in swarming locusts.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025

Same author

Evolution as a result of resource flow in ecosystems: Ecological dynamics can drive evolution.

PloS one·2023

Same author

Interaction between games give rise to the evolution of moral norms of cooperation.

PLoS computational biology·2022

Same author

The cost of noise: Stochastic punishment falls short of sustaining cooperation in social dilemma experiments.

PloS one·2022

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 29, 2025

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

Coevolution of cooperation and language.

Mohammad Salahshour¹

¹Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Inselstrasse 22, D 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Physical Review. E

|November 20, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cooperation evolves alongside language, a mathematical model reveals. Cooperators develop a shared language, excluding defectors and ensuring their own survival and the evolution of cooperation.

More Related Videos

Radioactive in situ Hybridization for Detecting Diverse Gene Expression Patterns in Tissue

Radioactive in situ Hybridization for Detecting Diverse Gene Expression Patterns in Tissue

Published on: April 27, 2012

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 29, 2025

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

Radioactive in situ Hybridization for Detecting Diverse Gene Expression Patterns in Tissue

Radioactive in situ Hybridization for Detecting Diverse Gene Expression Patterns in Tissue

Published on: April 27, 2012

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Social Sciences
Game Theory
Linguistics

Background:

Cooperation poses a paradox for natural selection, as altruistic acts can decrease individual fitness.
Understanding the evolution of cooperation is a fundamental challenge in biology and social sciences.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how cooperation can evolve despite natural selection's pressures.
To explore the coevolution of cooperation and language using a mathematical model.

Main Methods:

Development of a mathematical model simulating individuals playing a prisoner's dilemma game.
Integration of language learning and communication within the game dynamics.
Analysis of how payoff from cooperation influences language acquisition and vice-versa.

Main Results:

The model demonstrates that cooperation and language can coevolve.
Cooperators successfully establish and maintain a common language, excluding non-cooperators (defectors).
Language acts as a mechanism to channel benefits towards cooperators, preventing exploitation by defectors.

Conclusions:

The coevolution of language provides a pathway for the evolution of cooperation.
Language serves as a crucial tool for cooperators to protect their fitness benefits.
Defectors are excluded from the cooperative system due to their inability to utilize the common language, leading to their extinction.