14.2 Evolution and Physiology of Language

Question 1

Did we evolve the ability for language out of nothing or from some precursor already present in other species?

Answer 1

Research suggests that we evolve language from some precursor present in bonobos

Question 2

Why didn’t other animals develop language?

Answer 2

Two theories include (1) we evolved language as a byproduct of the overall brain development and (2) we evolved it as an extra part of the brain

Question 3

Williams syndrome

Answer 3

Characterized by mental retardation in most regards, but skillful use of language

Question 4

Poverty of the stimulus argument

Answer 4

Children do not hear many examples of some of the grammatical structures aquire, and therefore they could not learn them

Question 5

Aphasia

Answer 5

Severe language impairment

Question 6

Broca’s area

Answer 6

A small part of the frontal lobe of the left cerebral cortex knew the motor cortex

Question 7

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 7

Nonfluent aphasia; characterized most prominently by impaired language production

Question 8

Wernicke’s area

Answer 8

Located near the auditory part of the cerebral cortex

Question 9

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 9

Characterized by impaired ability to remember the names of objects and impaired language comprehension; fluent aphasia

Question 10

Anomia

Answer 10

Difficulty recalling the names of objects

Question 11

Productivity

Answer 11

The ability to produce new signals to represent new ideas