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Seeking Synthesis: The Integrative Problem in Understanding Language and Its Evolution
Author(s) -
Dale Rick,
Kello Christopher T.,
Schoenemann P. Thomas
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
topics in cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.191
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1756-8765
pISSN - 1756-8757
DOI - 10.1111/tops.12199
Subject(s) - cognitive science , cognition , language evolution , framing (construction) , function (biology) , computer science , human language , language acquisition , language model , psychology , cognitive psychology , artificial intelligence , linguistics , neuroscience , biology , philosophy , mathematics education , structural engineering , evolutionary biology , engineering
We discuss two problems for a general scientific understanding of language, sequences and synergies: how language is an intricately sequenced behavior and how language is manifested as a multidimensionally structured behavior. Though both are central in our understanding, we observe that the former tends to be studied more than the latter. We consider very general conditions that hold in human brain evolution and its computational implications, and identify multimodal and multiscale organization as two key characteristics of emerging cognitive function in our species. This suggests that human brains, and cognitive function specifically, became more adept at integrating diverse information sources and operating at multiple levels for linguistic performance. We argue that framing language evolution, learning, and use in terms of synergies suggests new research questions, and it may be a fruitful direction for new developments in theory and modeling of language as an integrated system.