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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2025

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

More than language is needed to represent and combine different core knowledge components.

Peter Krøjgaard¹, Trine Sonne¹, Osman S Kingo¹

¹Department of Psychology and the Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark peter@psy.au.dk trines@psy.au.dk osman@psy.au.dk.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|June 27, 2024

Summary

This study challenges the idea that language is the sole medium for combining core knowledge. It suggests language is a component, not the entirety, of this abstract thought process.

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Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

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Perspectives on Neuroscience

Perspectives on Neuroscience

Published on: July 31, 2007

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Developmental Psychology
Linguistics

Background:

Debate on the nature of abstract thought and core knowledge representation.
Spelke's theory posits language as the primary medium for combining core knowledge systems.

Purpose of the Study:

To critically evaluate Spelke's claim that the abstraction medium is language-based.
To explore alternative perspectives on how different core knowledge systems are integrated.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis of tasks involving core knowledge representation and combination.
Examination of non-linguistic cognitive tasks such as episodic memory recall, chess, and mental rotation.

Main Results:

Tasks like recalling episodic memory, playing chess, and mental rotation combine core knowledge.
These cognitive tasks are not inherently language-dependent, though they can be described using language.

Conclusions:

Language may be a subset, rather than the entirety, of the medium for abstract thought.
Core knowledge integration likely involves a broader representational system than language alone.