
Contents
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1. Introduction 1. Introduction
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2. Of Whorf and Whorfianism 2. Of Whorf and Whorfianism
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3. Vygotsky and Linguistic Scaffolding 3. Vygotsky and Linguistic Scaffolding
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4. Language-Dependent Concepts 4. Language-Dependent Concepts
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4.1. Language-Learning and Kind-Concepts 4.1. Language-Learning and Kind-Concepts
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4.2. That-Clauses and Theory of Mind 4.2. That-Clauses and Theory of Mind
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4.3. Number Words and Exact Number Concepts 4.3. Number Words and Exact Number Concepts
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5. Language as Content Combiner 5. Language as Content Combiner
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6. Dual Systems Theory and Language 6. Dual Systems Theory and Language
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7. Conclusion 7. Conclusion
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References References
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16 Language in Cognition
Get accessPeter Carruthers (DPhil, Oxford) is Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. He works on various topics in philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Recent books include Human and Animal Minds: The Consciousness Questions Laid to Rest (Oxford University Press 2019) and The Centered Mind: What the Science of Working Memory Shows Us About the Nature of Human Thought (Oxford University Press 2015).
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Published:01 May 2012
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Abstract
The article discusses the ways in which natural language might be implicated in human cognition. The Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky developed his ideas on the interrelations between language and thought, both in the course of child development and in mature human cognition. One of Vygostky's ideas concerned the ways in which the language deployed by adults can scaffold children's development, yielding what he called a ‘zone of proximal development’. He argued that what children can achieve alone and unaided is not a true reflection of their understanding. Vygotsky focused on the overt speech of children, arguing that it plays an important role in problem solving, partly by serving to focus their attention, and partly through repetition and rehearsal of adult guidance. Clark draws attention to the many ways in which language is used to support human cognition, ranging from shopping lists and post-it notes, to the mental rehearsal of remembered instructions and mnemonics, to the performance of complex arithmetic calculations on pieces of paper. Researchers have claimed that animals and pre-verbal infants possess a capacity for exact small-number judgment and comparison, for numbers up to three or four. There is also some evidence that natural language number-words might be constitutive of adult possession and deployment of exact number concepts, in addition to being developmentally necessary for their acquisition.
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