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McGann M, Lucas M, McHugh C, Barrett L. People, places, things and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230282. [PMID: 39114984 PMCID: PMC11338565 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2024] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 08/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Trends and developments in recent behavioural and cognitive sciences demonstrate the need for a well-developed theoretical and empirical framework for examining the ecology of human behaviour. The increasing recognition of the role of the environment and interaction with the environment in the organization of behaviour within the cognitive sciences has not been met with an equally disciplined and systematic account of that environment (Heft 2018 Ecol. Psychol. 30, 99-123 (doi:10.1080/10407413.2018.1410045); McGann 2014 Synth. Philos. 29, 217-233). Several bodies of work in behavioural ecology, anthropology and ecological psychology provide some frameworks for such an account. At present, however, the most systematic and theoretically disciplined account of the human behavioural ecosystem is that of behaviour settings, as developed by the researchers of the Midwest Psychological Field Station (see Barker 1968 Ecological psychology: concepts and methods for studying the environment of human behavior). The articles in this theme issue provide a critical examination of these theoretical and methodological resources. The collection addresses their theoretical value in connecting with contemporary issues in cognitive science and research practice in psychology, as well as the importance of the methodological specifics of behaviour settings research. Additionally, articles diagnose limitations and identify points of potential extension of both theory and methods, particularly with regard to changes owing to the advance of technology, and the complex relationship between the individual and the collective in behaviour settings work. This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things, and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marek McGann
- Department of Psychology, Mary Immaculate College, LimerickV94 VN26, Ireland
| | - Miranda Lucas
- Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, LethbridgeT1K 3M4, Canada
| | - Cillian McHugh
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, LimerickV94 T9PX, Ireland
| | - Louise Barrett
- Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, LethbridgeT1K 3M4, Canada
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Sauppe S, Naess Å, Roversi G, Meyer M, Bornkessel-Schlesewsky I, Bickel B. An Agent-First Preference in a Patient-First Language During Sentence Comprehension. Cogn Sci 2023; 47:e13340. [PMID: 37715510 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
The language comprehension system preferentially assumes that agents come first during incremental processing. While this might reflect a biologically fixed bias, shared with other domains and other species, the evidence is limited to languages that place agents first, and so the bias could also be learned from usage frequency. Here, we probe the bias with electroencephalography (EEG) in Äiwoo, a language that by default places patients first, but where sentence-initial nouns are still locally ambiguous between patient or agent roles. Comprehenders transiently interpreted nonhuman nouns as patients, eliciting a negativity when disambiguation was toward the less common agent-initial order. By contrast and against frequencies, human nouns were transiently interpreted as agents, eliciting an N400-like negativity when the disambiguation was toward patient-initial order. Consistent with the notion of a fixed property, the agent bias is robust against usage frequency for human referents. However, this bias can be reversed by frequency experience for nonhuman referents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Sauppe
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich
| | - Åshild Naess
- Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo
| | - Giovanni Roversi
- Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Martin Meyer
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Psychological Institute, University of Klagenfurt
| | - Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments, University of South Australia
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich
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Falkenreck JM, Kunkler MC, Ophey A, Weigert H, Friese A, Jahr P, Nelles G, Kalbe E, Polidori MC. Effects of the Multicomponent Cognitive Training Program BrainProtect in Cognitively Healthy Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Alzheimers Dis 2023; 94:1013-1034. [PMID: 37393493 DOI: 10.3233/jad-220619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive integrity is a fundamental driver of health. The exact structure of strategies against cognitive impairment is still under debate. OBJECTIVE To compare the short-term effects of a multicomponent cognitive training (BrainProtect) with those of general health counseling (GHC) on cognitive abilities and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in healthy adults in Germany. METHODS In this parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT), 132 eligible cognitively healthy adults (age ≥50 years, Beck Depression Inventory ≤9/63; Montreal Cognitive Assessment ≥26/30) were randomized to either GHC (N = 72) or to intervention with BrainProtect (intervention group, IG; N = 60). IG participants received 8 weekly sessions of 90 min of the group-based BrainProtect program focusing on executive functions, concentration, learning, perception, and imagination, plus nutritional and physical exercise units. Before and after intervention, all participants underwent neuropsychological testing and HRQoL evaluation, blinded for pretest. RESULTS No significant training effect was observed for the primary endpoint of global cognition as assessed by CERAD-Plus-z Total Score (p = 0.113; ηp2 = 0.023). Improvements in several cognitive subtests were shown in the IG (N = 53) compared to the GHC (N = 62) without adverse events. Differences reached significance for verbal fluency (p = 0.021), visual memory (p = 0.013), visuo-constructive functions (p = 0.034), and HRQoL (p = 0.009). Significance was lost after adjustment, though several changes were clinically relevant. CONCLUSION BrainProtect did not significantly impact global cognition in this RCT. Nevertheless, the results of some outcomes indicate clinically meaningful changes, so that a strengthening of the cognitive performance by BrainProtect cannot be excluded. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Maria Falkenreck
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Michelle Celine Kunkler
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Anja Ophey
- Department of Medical Psychology ∣ Neuropsychology and Gender Studies, Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Hannah Weigert
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Elke Kalbe
- Department of Medical Psychology ∣ Neuropsychology and Gender Studies, Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - M Cristina Polidori
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- CECAD, University of cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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4
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Blasi DE, Henrich J, Adamou E, Kemmerer D, Majid A. Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science. Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:1153-1170. [PMID: 36253221 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
English is the dominant language in the study of human cognition and behavior: the individuals studied by cognitive scientists, as well as most of the scientists themselves, are frequently English speakers. However, English differs from other languages in ways that have consequences for the whole of the cognitive sciences, reaching far beyond the study of language itself. Here, we review an emerging body of evidence that highlights how the particular characteristics of English and the linguistic habits of English speakers bias the field by both warping research programs (e.g., overemphasizing features and mechanisms present in English over others) and overgeneralizing observations from English speakers' behaviors, brains, and cognition to our entire species. We propose mitigating strategies that could help avoid some of these pitfalls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damián E Blasi
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Street, 02138 Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Pl. 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Human Relations Area Files, 755 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511-1225, USA.
| | - Joseph Henrich
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Street, 02138 Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Evangelia Adamou
- Languages and Cultures of Oral Tradition lab, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), 7 Rue Guy Môquet, 94801 Villejuif, France
| | - David Kemmerer
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, 715 Clinic Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 3rd Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - Asifa Majid
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK.
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Scott‐Phillips T, Nettle D. Cognition and Society: Prolegomenon to a Dialog. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13162. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel Nettle
- Population Health Sciences Institute Newcastle University
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6
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Paape D, Avetisyan S, Lago S, Vasishth S. Modeling Misretrieval and Feature Substitution in Agreement Attraction: A Computational Evaluation. Cogn Sci 2021; 45:e13019. [PMID: 34379348 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Revised: 05/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
We present computational modeling results based on a self-paced reading study investigating number attraction effects in Eastern Armenian. We implement three novel computational models of agreement attraction in a Bayesian framework and compare their predictive fit to the data using k-fold cross-validation. We find that our data are better accounted for by an encoding-based model of agreement attraction, compared to a retrieval-based model. A novel methodological contribution of our study is the use of comprehension questions with open-ended responses, so that both misinterpretation of the number feature of the subject phrase and misassignment of the thematic subject role of the verb can be investigated at the same time. We find evidence for both types of misinterpretation in our study, sometimes in the same trial. However, the specific error patterns in our data are not fully consistent with any previously proposed model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dario Paape
- Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam
| | | | - Sol Lago
- Institute for Romance Languages and Literatures, Goethe University Frankfurt
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7
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Ferretti F, Adornetti I. Persuasive conversation as a new form of communication in Homo sapiens. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200196. [PMID: 33745315 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this paper is twofold: to propose that conversation is the distinctive feature of Homo sapiens' communication; and to show that the emergence of modern language is tied to the transition from pantomime to verbal and grammatically complex forms of narrative. It is suggested that (animal and human) communication is a form of persuasion and that storytelling was the best tool developed by humans to convince others. In the early stage of communication, archaic hominins used forms of pantomimic storytelling to persuade others. Although pantomime is a powerful tool for persuasive communication, it is proposed that it is not an effective tool for persuasive conversation: conversation is characterized by a form of reciprocal persuasion among peers; instead, pantomime has a mainly asymmetrical character. The selective pressure towards persuasive reciprocity of the conversational level is the evolutionary reason that allowed the transition from pantomime to grammatically complex codes in H. sapiens, which favoured the evolution of speech. This article is part of the theme issue 'Reconstructing prehistoric languages'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Ferretti
- Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts, Roma Tre University, 00146 Rome, Italy
| | - Ines Adornetti
- Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts, Roma Tre University, 00146 Rome, Italy
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8
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Janmaat KRL. What animals do not do or fail to find: A novel observational approach for studying cognition in the wild. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:303-320. [PMID: 31418959 PMCID: PMC6916178 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2017] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
To understand how our brain evolved and what it is for, we are in urgent need of knowledge about the cognitive skills of a large variety of animal species and individuals, and their relationships to rapidly disappearing social and ecological conditions. But how do we obtain this knowledge? Studying cognition in the wild is a challenge. Field researchers (and their study subjects) face many factors that can easily interfere with their variables of interest. Although field studies of cognition present unique challenges, they are still invaluable for understanding the evolutionary drivers of cognition. In this review, I discuss the advantages and urgency of field-based studies on animal cognition and introduce a novel observational approach for field research that is guided by three questions: (a) what do animals fail to find?, (b) what do they not do?, and (c) what do they only do when certain conditions are met? My goal is to provide guidance to future field researchers examining primate cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karline R. L. Janmaat
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem DynamicsUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
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9
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Bender A. The Value of Diversity in Cognitive Science. Top Cogn Sci 2019; 11:853-863. [DOI: 10.1111/tops.12464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 09/07/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychosocial Science & SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE) University of Bergen
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10
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Bender A. The Role of Culture and Evolution for Human Cognition. Top Cogn Sci 2019; 12:1403-1420. [DOI: 10.1111/tops.12449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2019] [Revised: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychosocial Science & SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen
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11
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Speed LJ, Majid A. Grounding language in the neglected senses of touch, taste, and smell. Cogn Neuropsychol 2019; 37:363-392. [DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2019.1623188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura J. Speed
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, England
| | - Asifa Majid
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, England
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12
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Núñez R, Allen M, Gao R, Miller Rigoli C, Relaford-Doyle J, Semenuks A. What happened to cognitive science? Nat Hum Behav 2019; 3:782-791. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0626-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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13
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Rácz P, Passmore S, Jordan FM. Social Practice and Shared History, Not Social Scale, Structure Cross-Cultural Complexity in Kinship Systems. Top Cogn Sci 2019; 12:744-765. [PMID: 31165555 PMCID: PMC7318210 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Human populations display remarkable diversity in language and culture, but the variation is not without limit. At the population level, variation between societies may be structured by a range of macro‐evolutionary factors, including ecological and environmental resources, shared ancestry, spatial proximity, and covarying social practices. Kinship terminology systems are varying linguistic paradigms that denote familial social relationships of kin and non‐kin. Systems vary by the kinds of salient distinctions that are made (e.g., age, gender, generation) and the extent to which different kinds of kin are called by the same term. Here, we explore two kinds of explanations for an observed typology of kin terms for cousins. The first one derives the typology from a learning bottleneck linked to population size. This would lead to a correlation between community size and the type of kinship system. The second one derives it from a set of social practices, particularly marriage and transfer of resources that might shape kinship systems. Using a global ethnographic database of over a thousand societies, we show that marriage rules and shared linguistic affiliation have a significant influence on the type of kinship system found in a society. This remains true if we control for the effect of spatial proximity and cultural ancestry. By combining cognitive and historic approaches to this aspect of kinship, we suggest broader implications for the study of human social cognition in general. Kinship terminologies are basic cognitive semantic systems that all human societies use for organizing kin relations. Diversity in kinship systems and their categories is substantial, but constrained. Rácz, Passmore, and Jordan explore hypotheses about such constraints from learning theories and social pressures, testing the impact of a community‐size driven learning bottleneck against the social coordination demands of different kinds of marriage and resource systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Péter Rácz
- Cognitive Development Center, Central European University.,Evolution of Cross-Cultural Diversity Lab, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol
| | - Sam Passmore
- Evolution of Cross-Cultural Diversity Lab, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol
| | - Fiona M Jordan
- Evolution of Cross-Cultural Diversity Lab, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol
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14
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15
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Chevrot JP, Drager K, Foulkes P. Editors' Introduction and Review: Sociolinguistic Variation and Cognitive Science. Top Cogn Sci 2018; 10:679-695. [PMID: 30294877 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Sociolinguists study the interaction between language and society. Variationist sociolinguistics - the subfield of sociolinguistics which is the focus of this issue - uses empirical and quantitative methods to study the production and perception of linguistic variation. Linguistic variation refers to how speakers choose between linguistic forms that say the same thing in different ways, with the variants differing in their social meaning. For example, how frequently someone says fishin' or fishing depends on a number of factors, such as the speaker's regional and social background and the formality of the speech event. Likewise, if listeners are asked to use a rating scale make judgements about speakers who say fishin' or fishing, their ratings depend on what other social characteristics are attributed to the speaker. This issue aims to reflect the growing number of interactions that bring variationist sociolinguistics into contact of different branches of cognitive science. After presenting current trends in sociolinguistics, we identify five areas of contact between the two fields: cognitive sociolinguistics, sociolinguistic cognition, acquisition of variation, computational modeling, and a comparative approach of variation in animal communication. We then explain the benefits of interdisciplinary work: fostering the study of variability and cultural diversity in cognition; bringing together data and modeling; understanding the cognitive mechanisms through which sociolinguistic variation is processed; examining indexical meaning; exploring links between different levels of grammar; and improving methods of data collection and analysis. Finally we explain how the articles in this issue contribute to each of these benefits. We conclude by suggesting that sociolinguistics holds a strategic position for facing the challenge of building theories of language through integrating its linguistic, cognitive, and social aspects at the collective and individual levels.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Katie Drager
- Department of linguistics, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
| | - Paul Foulkes
- Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York
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16
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Kidd E, Donnelly S, Christiansen MH. Individual Differences in Language Acquisition and Processing. Trends Cogn Sci 2018; 22:154-169. [PMID: 29277256 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2017] [Revised: 11/24/2017] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Crivelli C, Jarillo S, Fridlund AJ. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Research in Small-Scale Societies: Studying Emotions and Facial Expressions in the Field. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1073. [PMID: 27486420 PMCID: PMC4947591 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2016] [Accepted: 06/30/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Although cognitive science was multidisciplinary from the start, an under-emphasis on anthropology has left the field with limited research in small scale, indigenous societies. Neglecting the anthropological perspective is risky, given that once-canonical cognitive science findings have often been shown to be artifacts of enculturation rather than cognitive universals. This imbalance has become more problematic as the increased use of Western theory-driven approaches, many of which assume human uniformity ("universality"), confronts the absence of a robust descriptive base that might provide clarifying or even contrary evidence. We highlight the need for remedies to such shortcomings by suggesting a two-fold methodological shift. First, studies conducted in indigenous societies can benefit by relying on multidisciplinary research groups to diminish ethnocentrism and enhance the quality of the data. Second, studies devised for Western societies can readily be adapted to the changing settings encountered in the field. Here, we provide examples, drawn from the areas of emotion and facial expressions, to illustrate potential solutions to recurrent problems in enhancing the quality of data collection, hypothesis testing, and the interpretation of results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Crivelli
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de MadridMadrid, Spain
| | - Sergio Jarillo
- Anthropology Division, American Museum of Natural History, New YorkNY, USA
| | - Alan J. Fridlund
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa BarbaraCA, USA
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18
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Bender A, Beller S. Current Perspectives on Cognitive Diversity. Front Psychol 2016; 7:509. [PMID: 27148118 PMCID: PMC4828464 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
To what extent is cognition influenced by a person’s cultural background? This question has remained controversial in large fields of the cognitive sciences, including cognitive psychology, and is also underexplored in anthropology. In this perspective article, findings from a recent wave of cross-cultural studies will be outlined with respect to three aspects of cognition: perception and categorization, number representation and counting, and explanatory frameworks and beliefs. Identifying similarities and differences between these domains allows for general conclusions regarding cognitive diversity and helps to highlight the importance of culturally shaped content for a comprehensive understanding of cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
| | - Sieghard Beller
- Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
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19
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Bender A, Beller S. The Power of 2: How an Apparently Irregular Numeration System Facilitates Mental Arithmetic. Cogn Sci 2016; 41:158-187. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2014] [Revised: 04/21/2015] [Accepted: 10/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychosocial Science; University of Bergen
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20
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Sauppe S. Verbal Semantics Drives Early Anticipatory Eye Movements during the Comprehension of Verb-Initial Sentences. Front Psychol 2016; 7:95. [PMID: 26903903 PMCID: PMC4746280 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2015] [Accepted: 01/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies on anticipatory processes during sentence comprehension often focus on the prediction of postverbal direct objects. In subject-initial languages (the target of most studies so far), however, the position in the sentence, the syntactic function, and the semantic role of arguments are often conflated. For example, in the sentence "The frog will eat the fly" the syntactic object ("fly") is at the same time also the last word and the patient argument of the verb. It is therefore not apparent which kind of information listeners orient to for predictive processing during sentence comprehension. A visual world eye tracking study on the verb-initial language Tagalog (Austronesian) tested what kind of information listeners use to anticipate upcoming postverbal linguistic input. The grammatical structure of Tagalog allows to test whether listeners' anticipatory gaze behavior is guided by predictions of the linear order of words, by syntactic functions (e.g., subject/object), or by semantic roles (agent/patient). Participants heard sentences of the type "Eat frog fly" or "Eat fly frog" (both meaning "The frog will eat the fly") while looking at displays containing an agent referent ("frog"), a patient referent ("fly") and a distractor. The verb carried morphological marking that allowed the order and syntactic function of agent and patient to be inferred. After having heard the verb, listeners fixated on the agent irrespective of its syntactic function or position in the sentence. While hearing the first-mentioned argument, listeners fixated on the corresponding referent in the display accordingly and then initiated saccades to the last-mentioned referent before it was encountered. The results indicate that listeners used verbal semantics to identify referents and their semantic roles early; information about word order or syntactic functions did not influence anticipatory gaze behavior directly after the verb was heard. In this verb-initial language, event semantics takes early precedence during the comprehension of sentences, while arguments are anticipated temporally more local to when they are encountered. The current experiment thus helps to better understand anticipation during language processing by employing linguistic structures not available in previously studied subject-initial languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Sauppe
- Language and Cognition Department, Max Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegen, Netherlands; Department of Linguistics, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany; Department of Linguistics and Information Sciences, Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorf, Germany
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21
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Majid A. Cultural Factors Shape Olfactory Language. Trends Cogn Sci 2015; 19:629-630. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2015.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2015] [Accepted: 06/25/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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22
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Bender A, Schlimm D, Beller S. The Cognitive Advantages of Counting Specifically: A Representational Analysis of Verbal Numeration Systems in Oceanic Languages. Top Cogn Sci 2015; 7:552-69. [DOI: 10.1111/tops.12165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2013] [Revised: 10/14/2014] [Accepted: 12/09/2014] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychosocial Science; University of Bergen
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23
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Bender A, Beller S, Nersessian NJ. Diversity as Asset. Top Cogn Sci 2015; 7:677-88. [DOI: 10.1111/tops.12161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 07/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychosocial Science; University of Bergen
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24
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Beller S, Bender A. Exploring Cognitive Diversity: Anthropological Perspectives on Cognition. Top Cogn Sci 2015; 7:548-51. [PMID: 26344239 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2015] [Revised: 07/14/2015] [Accepted: 07/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Anthropology and the other cognitive sciences currently maintain a troubled relationship (Beller, Bender, & Medin, ). What could rapprochement look like, and how could it be achieved? The seven main articles of this topic present anthropological or anthropologically inspired cross-cultural research on a diverse set of cognitive domains. They serve as an existence proof that not only do synergies abound across anthropology and the other cognitive sciences, but that they are worth achieving.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen
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25
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Glebkin VV. The Problem of Cultural-Historical Typology From the Four-Level-Cognitive-Development Theory Perspective. JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1177/0022022115593352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The problem of cultural-historical typology is one of the most intriguing issues at the crossroads of psychology and cultural theory. This article presents a preliminary sketch of the four-level-cognitive-development theory to look at this issue from a new perspective. According to the model suggested, three cultural types are marked out: prehistoric and hunter-gatherer culture, early theoretical culture (e.g., Ancient Greek, Ancient Chinese, Ancient Indian), and modern industrial culture. The major features of four cognitive levels are described; the links between them and cultural types are explored. Also some conjectures are posed concerning social-cultural processes that entailed the emergence of new cognitive levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir V. Glebkin
- The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow, Russia
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26
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Lee J. The human dark side: evolutionary psychology and original sin. JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND HEALTH 2014; 53:614-629. [PMID: 24327261 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-013-9805-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Human nature has a dark side, something important to religions. Evolutionary psychology has been used to illuminate the human shadow side, although as a discipline it has attracted criticism. This article seeks to examine the evolutionary psychology's understanding of human nature and to propose an unexpected dialog with an enduring account of human evil known as original sin. Two cases are briefly considered: murder and rape. To further the exchange, numerous theoretical and methodological criticisms and replies of evolutionary psychology are explored jointly with original sin. Evolutionary psychology can partner with original sin since they share some theoretical likenesses and together they offer insights into the nature of what it means to be human.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Lee
- Department of Theology, Flinders University, G.P.O. Box 2100, Adelaide, SA, 5032, Australia,
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27
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Wnuk E, Majid A. Revisiting the limits of language: The odor lexicon of Maniq. Cognition 2014; 131:125-38. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2013.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2013] [Revised: 11/29/2013] [Accepted: 12/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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28
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Feist MI. Diversifying the knowledge base. Top Cogn Sci 2014; 6:146-7. [PMID: 24482336 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2012] [Revised: 12/27/2012] [Accepted: 09/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michele I Feist
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
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29
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Qirko HN. Current trends in cultural particularism: the problem does seem to lie with anthropology. Top Cogn Sci 2014; 6:155-6. [PMID: 24482340 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hector N Qirko
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Charleston
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30
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Dediu D, Levinson SC. On the antiquity of language: the reinterpretation of Neandertal linguistic capacities and its consequences. Front Psychol 2013; 4:397. [PMID: 23847571 PMCID: PMC3701805 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2013] [Accepted: 06/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
It is usually assumed that modern language is a recent phenomenon, coinciding with the emergence of modern humans themselves. Many assume as well that this is the result of a single, sudden mutation giving rise to the full "modern package." However, we argue here that recognizably modern language is likely an ancient feature of our genus pre-dating at least the common ancestor of modern humans and Neandertals about half a million years ago. To this end, we adduce a broad range of evidence from linguistics, genetics, paleontology, and archaeology clearly suggesting that Neandertals shared with us something like modern speech and language. This reassessment of the antiquity of modern language, from the usually quoted 50,000-100,000 years to half a million years, has profound consequences for our understanding of our own evolution in general and especially for the sciences of speech and language. As such, it argues against a saltationist scenario for the evolution of language, and toward a gradual process of culture-gene co-evolution extending to the present day. Another consequence is that the present-day linguistic diversity might better reflect the properties of the design space for language and not just the vagaries of history, and could also contain traces of the languages spoken by other human forms such as the Neandertals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Dediu
- Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegen, Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University NijmegenNijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Stephen C. Levinson
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University NijmegenNijmegen, Netherlands
- Language and Cognition Department, Max Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegen, Netherlands
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31
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Bender A, Beller S. Cognition is … Fundamentally Cultural. Behav Sci (Basel) 2013; 3:42-54. [PMID: 25379225 PMCID: PMC4217618 DOI: 10.3390/bs3010042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2012] [Revised: 12/11/2012] [Accepted: 12/17/2012] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A prevailing concept of cognition in psychology is inspired by the computer metaphor. Its focus on mental states that are generated and altered by information input, processing, storage and transmission invites a disregard for the cultural dimension of cognition, based on three (implicit) assumptions: cognition is internal, processing can be distinguished from content, and processing is independent of cultural background. Arguing against each of these assumptions, we point out how culture may affect cognitive processes in various ways, drawing on instances from numerical cognition, ethnobiological reasoning, and theory of mind. Given the pervasive cultural modulation of cognition—on all of Marr’s levels of description—we conclude that cognition is indeed fundamentally cultural, and that consideration of its cultural dimension is essential for a comprehensive understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bender
- Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Engelberger Straße 41, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: ; Tel.: +49-761-203-2482; Fax: +49-761-203-2490
| | - Sieghard Beller
- Department of Human Sciences, University of Paderborn, Warburger Str. 100, D-33098 Paderborn, Germany; E-Mail:
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Enfield NJ. Diversity Disregarded Games Primates PlayAn Undercover Investigation of the Evolution and Economics of Human Relationships by Dario MaestripieriBasic Books (Perseus), New York, 2012. 320 pp. $27.99, C$31, £11.99. ISBN 9780465020782. Science 2012. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1225365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Juxtaposing descriptions of social behaviors of humans with those of other primates, Maestripieri emphasizes our similarities with our closest evolutionary relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- N. J. Enfield
- The reviewer is at the Language and Cognition Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, PB310, Nijmegen, 6500AH, Netherlands
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