Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Language as a psychological adaptation

S Pinker1

  • 1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.

Ciba Foundation Symposium
|January 1, 1997
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

A Neural Dissociation within Language: Evidence that the Mental Dictionary Is Part of Declarative Memory, and that Grammatical Rules Are Processed by the Procedural System.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

On language.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

Ontario, Quebec compare views on medicare.

CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne·2002
Same author

Quebec's $100-million campaign targets meningococcal disease.

CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne·2002
Same author

Talk of genetics and vice versa.

Nature·2001
Same author

Baby monitor.

Time·2001
Same journal

Precision agriculture: spatial and temporal variability of environmental quality. General reflections.

Ciba Foundation symposium·1997
Same journal

Uncertainty in hydrogeological modelling.

Ciba Foundation symposium·1997
Same journal

Optimal mapping of site-specific multivariate soil properties.

Ciba Foundation symposium·1997
Same journal

Modelling for precision weed management.

Ciba Foundation symposium·1997
Same journal

GIS support for precision agriculture: problems and possibilities.

Ciba Foundation symposium·1997
Same journal

Spatial sampling.

Ciba Foundation symposium·1997
See all related articles

Human language, a structured signal system of words and grammar, evolved as an adaptation for sharing information. This complex faculty enables humans to acquire and apply knowledge, distinguishing our

Area of Science:

  • Linguistics and Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Language is a uniquely human trait for conveying thoughts via structured signals.
  • It operates on a lexicon (words) and grammar (rules).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose that language is an adaptation for information sharing.
  • To position language within the context of human 'informavore' niche.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of language structure and function.
  • Comparative analysis with general intelligence and species development.

Main Results:

  • Language is a complex, universally developing faculty, partly independent of general intelligence.
  • Its design facilitates encoding and decoding propositional information.

Related Experiment Videos

Conclusions:

  • Language functions as a primary adaptation for sharing information.
  • This adaptation supports the human 'informavore' niche, enabling knowledge acquisition and application for competitive advantage.