Scribd
Upload
9 views4 pages

1What is relation between language and the human mind

The document explores the intricate relationship between language, the human mind, and the brain, emphasizing that language is fundamental to human development and cognitive abilities. It discusses how language is integrated with various neural processes, the structural differences between human and primate brains, and the localization and lateralization of language functions in the brain. Overall, it highlights the complexity of language as a cognitive skill and its essential role in shaping human thought and experience.

Uploaded by

ANA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
9 views4 pages

1What is relation between language and the human mind

The document explores the intricate relationship between language, the human mind, and the brain, emphasizing that language is fundamental to human development and cognitive abilities. It discusses how language is integrated with various neural processes, the structural differences between human and primate brains, and the localization and lateralization of language functions in the brain. Overall, it highlights the complexity of language as a cognitive skill and its essential role in shaping human thought and experience.

Uploaded by

ANA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

1What is relation between language and the human mind?

Language is the most important means of interaction for a person’s development;


and a beautiful gift. Our thoughts, feelings, needs and wants make us human. But
in order to share the emotions, one needs to communicate through the use of
language. The practice of language is highly important from the early years. I
intend to look at the relation to how language rules the mind. Along with this, one
will see how language facilitates one’s thinking power and its implications.
Language is a significant part of what makes us human, along with other cognitive
skills such as mathematical and spatial reasoning, musical and drawing ability, the
capacity to form social relationships, and the like. As with these other cognitive
skills, linguistic behavior is open to investigation using the familiar tools of
observation and experimentation.

It is wrong, however, to exaggerate the similarity between language and other


cognitive skills, because language stands apart in several ways. For one thing, the
use of language is universal—all normally developing children learn to speak at
least one language, and many learn more than one. By contrast, not everyone
becomes proficient at complex mathematical reasoning, few people learn to paint
well, and many people cannot carry a tune. Because everyone is capable of
learning to speak and understand language, it may seem to be simple. But just the
opposite is true—language is one of the most complex of all human cognitive
abilities.

2 What is the relation between language and the human brain ?

Languages—exquisitely structured, complex, and diverse—are a distinctively


human gift, at the very heart of what it means to be human. As such, language
makes for both a particularly important and difficult topic in neuroscience. A
dominant early approach to the study of language was to treat it as a separate
module or organ within the brain. However, much modern empirical work has
demonstrated that language is integrated with, and in constant interplay with, an
incredibly broad range of neural processes. The normal human brain that is the
subject of study in neuroscience is a “languaged” brain. It has come to be the way
it is through a personal history of language use within an individual's lifetime. It
also actively and dynamically uses linguistic resources (the categories,
constructions, and distinctions available in language) as it processes incoming
information from across the senses.

Put simply, one cannot understand the human brain without understanding the
contributions of language, both in the moment of thinking and as a formative force
during earlier learning and experience. When we study language, we are getting a
peek at the very essence of human nature. Languages—these deeply structured
cultural objects that we inherit from prior generations—work alongside our
biological inheritance to make human brains what they are.

3 Discuss the comparison issue in relation to language and the brain.

Nativists argue that a human infant must have some kind of genetically transmitted
language faculty in order to acquire language as rapidly and successfully as it does.
If that is the case, then we can expect the human brain to be different in structure
from those of primates not capable of language. Of course, evidence of differences
between human brains and those of other species does not necessarily prove the
nativist case. We might approach the issue from the opposite (cognitivist) angle
and suggest that differences in the operation of the human brain are what enabled
us to evolve language when other species could not. Here are some comparisons
between the brains of human beings and those of other primates:

The cortex is much more extensive in human beings. Human pre-frontal areas are
up to six times bigger than those of chimpanzees (in relation to body size).

The brains of other species are divided into two hemispheres. Like human beings,
a number of species (birds, rodents and other primates) have a left hemisphere
which is more developed. In monkeys, the left hemisphere dominates in the pro
cessing of rapid auditory stimuli.

In human beings, a greater proportion of the motor area is given over to the
control of mouth, tongue and jaw.

The human cerebellum is very much larger, relative to brain size, than in other
species. The motor areas in the human cortex appear to exercise a high degree of
control over the larynx, which regulates the passage of air in breathing and speech.
In other species, the operation of the larynx is mainly or entirely controlled by the
lower parts of the brain.

4 Discuss the localization issue in relation to language and the brain . Attempts to
locate language in the brain have a long history. Added impetus was given to the
issue when Noam Chomsky (1965) and others drew attention to the fact that every
normal child successfully acquires a first language, no matter what its intelligence
or learning style. This suggested to some commentators that language must be an
independent faculty and not part of our general powers of thought and reason.
Evidence

supporting this hypothesis comes from accounts of individuals who have serious
learn ing difficulties but in whom the language faculty appears to be spared. It is
therefore of interest to find how language relates to the other operations performed
by the brain.

5 Discuss the lateralization issue in relation to language and the brain . Early
evidence suggested that damage to the left side of the brain impaired language in a
way that damage to the right did not. Where the damage occurred before the age
of about five, the sufferer would sometimes fully recover their powers of speech.
Hence a theory (Lenneberg 1967) that, in infancy, the relationship between the
two parts of the brain is flexible enough for language to relocate itself on the right
when neces

sary. This led to much discussion as to whether the periodcof flexibility constitutes
a Critical Period for learning a first language, after which a child is not be able to
achieve full competence.

We consider the characteristics of the brain in this section, localisation in section


B3

6 Provide a quick geography of the brain.

A quick geography of the brain


The outer surface of the brain is marked by mounds (gyri) and valleys (sulci).
These serve to mark out four major regions in each hemisphere, known as lobes.
They are the frontal lobe at the front, the 1 Upper vs lower

The upper surface of the brain consists of 'grey matter' (that is its colour when
exposed to air) known as the cortex (or cortical area). It deals with many of the
more com plex operations, including making connections with stored information,
analysing input and controlling sophisticated muscular movements. Below it is the
sub-cortex of 'white matter', which is mainly nerve cell fibres. In general, the
lower parts of the brain are responsible for reflex actions, controlling functions
such as breathing and heart beats. The cerebellum at the base of the brain has a
delicate role in co-ordinating a ,range of muscular movements which have become
highly automatic.

2 Left vs right

The brain divides into two hemispheres, one on the left (from the perspective of the
owner of the brain) and one on the right. They are joined by a complex web of
nerve connections known as the corpus callosum. The left hemisphere controls
movement

and sensation on the right side of the body while the right hemisphere is linked to
the left side. Generalising enormously, the left hemisphere in most individuals is
associated with analytic processing and symbolisation, while the right is associated
with perceptual and spatial representation.

3 Front vs back temporal lobe running from front to back and the occipital and
parietal lobes at the back. Frontal lobe

You might also like