Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2025
05:35
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
6.6K
How (and why) languages became more complex as we evolved more prosocial: the human self-domestication view
1Department of Spanish, Linguistics and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
Frontiers in Psychology
|February 3, 2025
Summary
Human evolution through self-domestication may explain language emergence. This process potentially enhanced cognitive traits, fostering language complexification and cultural evolution.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Anthropology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The emergence of human language is a complex phenomenon.
- The self-domestication hypothesis offers a novel perspective on human evolution, drawing parallels with domesticated animals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-examine language emergence through the lens of human self-domestication.
- To explore how self-domestication may have influenced cognitive and behavioral traits relevant to language.
Main Methods:
- Review of diverse evidence, including paleogenetic and clinical data.
- Theoretical modeling of language complexification within the self-domestication framework.
Main Results:
- Self-domestication may have potentiated cognitive and behavioral features impacting language acquisition and use.
- This evolutionary process could have facilitated the creation of a cultural niche favoring language complexification.
- A model is proposed for language structural (grammar, prosody, semantics) and functional (pragmatics) complexification.
Conclusions:
- The self-domestication account provides a plausible framework for understanding language evolution.
- Future research should focus on empirical testing of this hypothesis.
Keywords:
aggressionhuman self-domesticationlanguage evolutionlanguage structural complexitylanguage usesprehistoryMore Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:22Language Development
311
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...
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...
311
01:16Language
190
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...
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...
190
01:24Components of Language
235
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.
235
01:27Language and Cognition
318
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.
318
01:20Evolutionary Psychology
233
Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the...
233
01:54Convergent Evolution
27.4K
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.
27.4K