Evolution Of Language And The Brain

According to Susanne K. Langer in the essay “Language and Thought,” an essential difference between animals and humans is the way humans think in symbols and signs, instead of just solely relying on signs. Langer suggests that thinking in signs, which is something both humans and animals share in common, is a process that leads us to react instinctively to the physical presence of that sign. Signs are very much a direct cause to a particular effect. It seems that to learn a sign you simply must be conditioned to respond certain ways to a specific observation. Symbols, though, are exclusively human devices of language that provoke thoughts about a particular thing. The use of symbols has allowed humans to reach much more complex levels of thought,

Thesis: Humans differ from animals because humans have developed a complex language which gives man the ability to store knowledge, communicate complex ideas, and is not a hereditary skill.

Evolution has a long history of being debated as inappropriate to be taught in schools. Many people feel that it is important to learn about Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, but at the same time there are many who refuse to learn about it. In the Scopes Monkey Trial and in the movie Inherit the Wind a trial is going on debating the legality of teaching evolution. Though there are still issues that arise with teaching evolution it is currently accepted more than it is debated against. Evolution is a scientifically tested and proven concept and should be taught in science classes.

Nothing brings people together more than language. As an international student, I noticed that more often than not, international students tend to befriend those with a common native language. Perhaps their common language makes it easier for them to communicate since they might not be comfortable with speaking English. Another possibility would be that sharing a language can also mean that they share a common way of thinking. Lera Boroditsky, an assistant psychology professor at Stanford University, wrote the article “How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?” to illustrate to her readers that language, whether it is grammar or just the general logic, does indeed affect how we think. Boroditsky and research teams in Stanford and MIT collected data from all over the world. Because of the extensive amount of research and her article’s solid structure, I find Boroditsky’s argument easy to follow and understand, therefore quite convincing. She is so knowledgeable in her area that her arguments and article are solid and build on top of each other like Tetris tiles. A well-written article can only be achieved by knowing and understanding your material well.

“What makes us human?”, is an unanswered question asked by many. Is it because of our ability to have empathy for others? Or is it because of our cognitive ability which allows us to look into the future? One of the main arguments made that separates humans from animals is our communication style; our language. Is language inherently unique to human? To answer such a question, we first operationally define language as; “a system of communication based upon words and the combination of words into sentences” (University of Oslo). The purpose of language is for us to be able to convey an infinite amount of ideas to one another. Sign language in general also falls under this definition as it has a complex system of rules and syntax that allow the signed figures to function as words. Animal communication on the other hand, is operationally defined as, “the transmission of a signal from one animal to another such that the sender benefits, on average, from the response of the recipient” (Pearce 1987). With this in mind, current research has shown that the answer is that language is inherently unique to humans.

In order to approach the question; the author developed an understanding of the authorship of Charles Darwin that he employed as the foundation with which he was able to further his studies. Because of the understanding of the approach employed, it becomes undisputed that the methodology that was employed to carry out the research was qualitative, making varied comparisons trying to bring out the quality of the content under investigation ("How human language could have evolved from birdsong. (n.d.). The findings of the content of the article show that the reception accorded by the professors in the field of linguistic was positive. This translates to the fact that the research findings made a positive impact in linguistics as it is considered to have its effect in the next five years to come. The conclusion associated with the research question has been narrowed down to the fact that in deed the origins of human language are associated with birdsong and in a broader perspective, the animal kingdom. From the conclusion associated with the content of the article and the reception that the content of the article has from the field of linguistics, the article has proven to be convincing on the arguments that it presented ("How human language could have evolved from birdsong.

The article is structured in an organized matter he explains his experiment in the first section, giving background history on the subject (language) and gives a brief explanation on his main points. He later explains his main points each one separately and in his conclusion explains how all of his arguments together play a significant role in language. The purpose of this article is to prove that there are more underlying keys that make human unique beside language and recursion. Also, to prove that humans have preexisting conditions that allow them to speak and understand language. However, he also investigates why animals do not evolve any language. He conducts this experiment by testing on tamarin monkeys and discovers that these monkeys do not recombine mental elements to learn recursive- and non- recursive language. The logic his analysis is clear and states the points that play a part in the process of language. For example, voluntary control of sensory- motor systems this explains the preexisting capacity that humans have, which is

Language is a cognitive function that most of us take for granted. It starts from early on, some say at conception, and it develops in complexity as we get older. It is an essential part of communication and without it its development would be greatly hindered. This natural process requires complex structures and reasoning, the bringing together of sounds and words to develop concrete ideas and thoughts. In this paper we will discuss the components of language and how it relates to cognitive processes.

Culture and Expression’s first required text is “An Evolutionary Framework for the Acquisition of Symbolic Cognition by Homo sapiens” by Ian Tattersall. The text is a short article that reviews the evolution of human beings. It describes what older species of the genus Homo looked like: body shape, bone structure, brain size, skull orientation, and know physical characteristics. Tattersall begins by truly looking at the roots of our civilization, where humans came from and how we are the byproduct resulting from millions of years of history. Early on in the article, it is discovered that more significant than physical traits, is our symbolic cognition, which separates our species from the rest of the environment. Tattersall says that it is this ‘strong apartness from the rest of Nature’ that drove humans to advance swifter than the competition . This is a crucial part of the article because it shifts the focus from physical traits to social

Humans use language to communicate to each other. Communication can take many complex forms such as body language, sign language, oral and written language. Gee and Hayes (2011), inform the reader that oral language is the part of a language that has evolved over time to become humans inherited language. Throughout history, humans have changed the spoken words to suit their culture and specific rituals. Over time, the spoken word was adapted to “engage in language varieties for mathematics, science, law, medicine, engineering, game design, anime fandom, and many others” (Hayes, 2011. P.8). Writing is only a relatively recent transformation and, therefore, is not considered to be part of evolution.

One of the ways humans can be individually identified from other species is through symbolic language. Symbolic language is broad and encompasses a wide variety of simple and complex defining features that Homo Sapiens use to communicate. Symbolic language is the reason we have the ability to collectively learn and share knowledge with each other. As symbolic language is so wide in its variety, it incorporates ideas such as how humans have advanced through technology and communication, how we can create and believe in fictional realities and how we have the ability to feel emotions from creativity and expression. Symbolic language is an extensive and vital feature that defines Homo Sapiens from all other species.

The claim, humans are the only animal that can acquire language has been the subject of much debate as scientists have investigated language use by non-human species. Researchers have taught apes, monkeys, parrots and wild children with various systems of human-like communication. Thus, one might ask, what is human language? According to Ulla Hedeager, A universally accepted definition of language or the criteria for its use does not exist. This is one of the reasons for the disagreement among scientists about whether non-human species can use a language. In nature, researchers find numerous types of communication systems, several of which appear to be unique to their possessors, and one of them is the language of the human species. Basically, the purpose of communication is the preservation, growth, and development of the species (Smith and Miller 1968:265). The ability to exchange information is shared by all communication systems, and a number of non-human systems share some features of human language. The fundamental difference between human and non-human communication is that animals are believed to react instinctively, in a stereotyped and predictable way. Generally, human behavior is under the voluntary control,

Early language development predicts the amount of vocabulary knowledge as the child develops and is a key factor that is linked with later academic achievement (Pungello et al., 2009; Weisleder & Fernald, 2013). Also, background factors must be analyzed and assessed, in order to understand how language growth differs from one child to the next. Exposure to speech is very important and helps influence early development of language and the processing speed (Fernald, Marchman, & Wielder, 2013 as cited by Weisleder & Fernald, 2009). A study done by Kwon et al., (2013), found that play has a significant effect on the language complexity for children’s language use pertaining to the structure of play or activity setting (free play), however the gender of the parent did not influence the language growth for the child. Furthermore, children are able to identify familiar words when speech is directed towards the child and not over heard, facilitated vocabulary learning at the age of 24 months (Weislder & Fernald, 2013). For example, over hearing adult conversation is not as beneficial towards the child’s vocabulary learning.

Garreau, Joel. Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies- and What It Means to Be Human. New York: Random House, 2005. Print.

Linguistics has impacted cognitive psychology as the quest to understand language acquisition and the structure of language itself is undertaken. Linguistics is a complex and multifaceted; it includes language structural patterns and language development (Barsalou, 2005). The process of language development is complicated and dense, as the study of language is examined; the role of cognition is inherently examined and analyzed. Sternberg (2006) also explores language as an innate process and presents the idea that humans are born ready for language as a biological and cognitive process.