Evolution of Brain and Language

Bibliographic Data

ID4502917
AuthorsP Thomas Schoenemann (Indiana University, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume59
Issues1
Pages162-186
Publication date2009-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage Learning (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0023-8333 • E-ISSN: 1467-9922
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00539.x
OpenAlexW2148224932
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited73

The evolution of language and the evolution of the brain are tightly interlinked. Language evolution represents a special kind of adaptation, in part because language is a complex behavior (as opposed to a physical feature) but also because changes are adaptive only to the extent that they increase either one's understanding of others, or one's understanding to others. Evolutionary changes in the human brain that are thought to be relevant to language are reviewed. The extent to which these changes are a cause or consequence of language evolution is a good question, but it is argued that the process may best be viewed as a complex adaptive system, in which cultural learning interacts with biology iteratively over time to produce language

Adaptation (eye) · Biological evolution · Biology · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Evolutionary biology · Feature (linguistics) · Human evolution · Human language · Language acquisition · Language evolution · Linguistics · Process (computing) · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Categorization, perception, and language · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Language and cultural evolution · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology

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