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Cited by 137Categorization, perception, and languageLanguage and cultural evolutionSyntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

The centrality of language in human cognition

Open access
Lupyan, Gary·2016·Language Learning
DOI 10.1111/lang.12155
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Abstract

The emergence of language—a productive and combinatorial system of communication—has been hailed as one of the major transitions in evolution. By enabling symbolic culture, language allows humans to draw on and expand on the knowledge of their ancestors and peers. A common assumption among linguists and psychologists is that although language is critical to our ability to share our thoughts, it plays a minor, if any, role in generating, controlling, and structuring them. I examine some assumptions that led to this view of language and discuss an alternative according to which normal human cognition is language‐augmented cognition. I focus on one of the fundamental design features of language—the use of words as symbolic cues—and argue that language acts as a high‐level control system for the mind, allowing individuals to sculpt mental representations of others as well as their own.

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  • Varieties of inner speech are subserved by different neural mechanisms.

    “The idea that varieties of IS are subserved by different neural mechanisms gains further backing from an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis [48] supporting a separation between speech production and speech reception areas underlying different types of IS.”

    From Inner speech as language process and cognitive tool (2023) · cites this paper as [48]

    The discussion on p. 533 mentions stimulation of Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas affecting covert labeling, but does not distinguish varieties of inner speech or assign them to speech-production versus speech-reception areas. The passages found for inner speech and activation likelihood estimation do not report an ALE meta-analysis or the claimed separation. (LLM, conf=0.75)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Casasanto, D., & Lupyan, G. (2014). All concepts are ad hoc concepts. In E. Margolis & S. Laurence (Eds.), Concepts: New directions (pp. 543-566). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  2. Darwin, C. (2004). The descent of man. Princeton, NJ: Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1871).
  3. Papafragou, A. (2005). Relations between language and thought: Individuation and the count/mass distinction. In C. Lefebvre & H. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of categorization in cognitive science (pp. 255-275). New York: Elsevier.
  4. Rumelhart, D. E. (1979). Some problems with the notion that words have literal meanings. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 71-82). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  5. Rumelhart, & The PDP Research Group (Eds.), Parallel distributed processing (Vol. 2, pp. 7-57). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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Authors
Lupyan, G.
Affiliations
University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
Corresponding author
Lupyan, Gary
ORCID
Lupyan, Gary
Venue
Language Learning
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-12-11
Volume
66
Issue
3
Pages
516-553
ISSN
  • 0023-8333 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9922
DOI
10.1111/lang.12155
OpenAlex
W2279213940
Cited by
137
References
209
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4
FWCI
9.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
Language Learning (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (1331293)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Keywords
language and cognition, symbolic culture, mental representation

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