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Precursors of linguistic knowledge

J M Mandler1

  • 1Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0515.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|October 29, 1994
PubMed
Summary

Infants learn language using conceptual meanings, not just sensorimotor schemas. Image-schemas, derived from perceptual analysis, provide this crucial conceptual foundation for language acquisition.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Infants require pre-existing conceptual meanings for language acquisition.
  • Sensorimotor schemas, previously assumed to be these meanings, are insufficient for language learning.
  • Emerging research indicates infants develop a rich conceptual system alongside sensorimotor schemas.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the nature of pre-existing conceptual meanings in infants.
  • To propose a representational system for these concepts that facilitates language acquisition.
  • To explain how infants bridge perception and language.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical analysis of existing research on infant cognition and language development.
  • Proposal of image-schemas as the representational units of infant concepts.
  • Explanation of the perceptual analysis process generating image-schemas.

Main Results:

  • Sensorimotor schemas are inadequate as the conceptual basis for language learning.
  • Infants simultaneously develop a rich conceptual system.
  • Image-schemas, derived from perceptual analysis, represent meanings and serve as an analogue-digital interface.

Conclusions:

  • Image-schemas provide the necessary conceptual foundation for infants to learn language.
  • This representational system facilitates the transition from continuous perception to discrete language forms.
  • Understanding image-schemas offers new insights into early language acquisition mechanisms.

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