Language and Cognition

Paper Summary:

The paper explores various studies that attempt to determine how children learn to speak and shows how in many cases, the rudiments of language development are started early, even in the first few months after birth. The paper notes that such studies are of interest to educators and parents, as well as those who are working toward the betterment of illnesses such as autism. The paper points out that although much has been learned about the interrelationship of language and behavior, much will not be determined until the study of the brain becomes more advanced.

From the Paper:

"How do children learn to speak? For decades, psychologists, anthropologists, philsophers and linguists have debated this question. The cognitive theory of learning, first theorized by Piaget in the mid-1950s concerns the development stages when babies and children acquire new ways of mentally representing information. Since then, a wide variety of different and competing ideas of this relationship have been proposed, which continue to stimulate a large body of research. Although the results of these studies have brought researchers closer to the "truths" behind language development, it will not be until the construct and activity of the brain is thoroughy understood that the final answers concerning language will be known."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bowerman, M., & Levinson, S. C (2001). Introduction. In M. Bowerman & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Language acquisition and conceptual development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Delgado, C. E. F., Mundy, P., Crowson, M., Markus, J., & Schwartz, H. (2002). Responding to joint attention and language development: A comparison to target location. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45, 715-719.
• de Villiers, J. (2007) Interface of language and theory of mind. Lingua 117 1858-1878
• Doherty, M.J., 2006. The development of mentalistic gaze understanding. Infant and Child Development 15, 179-186.
• Gershkoff, L., and Hahn, E. (2007) Fast Mapping Skills in the Developing Lexicon Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 50 682-697

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