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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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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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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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Reasoning01:30

Reasoning

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Reasoning is the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way. It is integral to problem-solving, decision-making, and critical thinking. Reasoning can be inductive or deductive. Reasoning involves transforming information into conclusions, which is essential for problem-solving, decision-making, and critical thinking.
Inductive reasoning involves deriving generalizations from specific observations. This type of reasoning helps form beliefs about the world. For example,...
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Language as a mechanism for reasoning about possibilities.

Myrto Grigoroglou1, Patricia A Ganea2

  • 1Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science Program, University of Toronto, Sidney Smith Hall, 4th floor, 100 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
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Human reasoning about possibilities, like disjunctive syllogism, may depend on language acquisition. This study explores the developmental link between logical language and cognitive abilities in children.

Keywords:
disjunctive syllogismlanguage and thoughtlogical reasoningmodalitypossibilities

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Human reasoning involves contemplating possibilities, a key aspect of cognition.
  • The origin of this reasoning, particularly its relationship with language, remains a significant debate in cognitive science.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the developmental relationship between language and the ability to reason about possibilities.
  • To explore how children acquire logical and modal language and how this relates to their capacity for disjunctive syllogism.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing developmental literature on children's reasoning, specifically disjunctive syllogism.
  • Examination of evidence concerning the acquisition of logical and modal language in children.
  • Synthesis of findings to propose an interaction model between language and thought.

Main Results:

  • Disjunctive syllogism, a form of possibility reasoning, has demonstrable links to linguistic development.
  • Children's acquisition of logical and modal language appears intertwined with their developing reasoning skills.

Conclusions:

  • Language acquisition plays a crucial role in the development of human reasoning about possibilities.
  • A proposed model outlines the interaction between linguistic and conceptual representations during cognitive development.