Description: This class explores the relation of language and thought. Is language uniquely human, and if so, what does this reveal about the human mind? Does the particular language you speak affect the way you think, or do human languages reflect a universal conceptual repertoire? The goal of this class is to familiarize you with a set of classic arguments on these themes, together with current research that evaluates these arguments, through weekly reading and discussion.

Time & location: Wednesdays 2-4pm and Fridays 2-3pm, in 88 Dwinelle.

Instructor: Terry Regier (email: firstname dot lastname at berkeley dot edu ; office hours M 10-11, F 9-10 in Dwinelle 1221).

GSI: Michelle Carney (email: firstname dot lastname at berkeley dot edu ; office hours TBA).

Format and grading: The class is primarily discussion-based. There will be a short quiz each week on that week's readings. There will also be a final exam. Grades will be determined as follows:

1. Weekly quizzes (1/3)
2. In-class discussion (1/3)
3. Final exam (1/3)

Weekly quizzes. Each Wednesday, class will begin with a short quiz on the readings for that week. Please come to class on time so that you do not miss the quiz. The quizzes will be graded and returned that Friday, and discussed.

In-class discussion. All students are expected to engage in discussion in each class. Please come to class prepared to suggest comments and/or critiques that engage and go beyond the readings, and that suggest useful directions for group discussion.

Final exam. There will be a final exam covering all material surveyed in the class.

Readings and schedule

Week of Wed. Jan. 18: Organization and orientation (class meets Wednesday but not Friday)

Writeup on: Reading and critiquing a formal academic journal article.

Part 1: Is language uniquely human, and if so, why?

Week of Wed. Jan. 25: Language and animal communication

Hockett, Charles F. (1959). Animal "languages" and human language. Human Biology 31, 32-39.

Johnson, G. (1995). Chimp talk debate: Is it really language? New York Times, June 6, 1995, C1.

Savage-Rumbaugh, S. et al. (1986). Spontaneous symbol acquisition and communicative use by pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 115, 211-235.

Week of Wed. Feb. 1: The faculty of language

Chomsky, N. (1986). Preface & Knowledge of language as a focus of inquiry. In Knowledge of language: Its nature, origin, and use (pp. xxv-14). Westport, CT: Praeger.

Hauser, M. D. et al. (2002). The faculty of language: What is it, who has it, and how did it evolve? Science 298, 1569-1579.

Pinker, S. & Jackendoff, R. (2005). The faculty of language: What's special about it? Cognition 95, 201-236.

Week of Wed. Feb. 8: ** Wednesday class cancelled.

Class will not meet on Wednesday. On Friday, Michelle will hold informal optional office hours during class time, in our classroom, 88 Dwinelle.

Week of Wed. Feb. 15: Language universals

Evans, N., & Levinson, S. C. (2009). The myth of language universals: Language diversity and its importance for cognitive science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 429-492.

Fedzechkina, M., Jaeger, T. F., & Newport, E. L. (2012). Language learners restructure their input to facilitate efficient communication. PNAS early edition.

Kemp, C., & Regier, T. (2012). Kinship categories across languages reflect general communicative principles. Science, 336, 1049-1054.

Week of Wed. Feb. 22: Words, symbols, and social cognition

Tomasello, M. (2007). If they're so good at grammar, then why don't they talk? Hints from apes' and humans' use of gestures. Language Learning and Development, 3, 133-156.

Hare, B., et al. (2002). The domestication of social cognition in dogs. Science 298: 1634-1636.

Kaminski, J., et al. (2004). Word learning in a domestic dog: Evidence for "fast mapping". Science 304: 1682-1683.

Week of Wed. Mar. 1: Cultural transmission and evolution

Kirby, S. (2002). Learning, bottlenecks, and the evolution of recursive syntax. In Ted Briscoe (Ed.), Linguistic Evolution through Language Acquisition: Formal and Computational Models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kalish, M., et al. (2007). Iterated learning: Intergenerational knowledge transmission reveals inductive biases. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 14: 288-294.

Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition. Chapter 1: A puzzle and a hypothesis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Part 2: Does the language you speak affect the way you see the world?

Week of Wed. Mar. 8: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Sapir, E. (1929). The status of linguistics as a science. Language 5, 207-214 (excerpt: p. 209).

Whorf, Benjamin (1956). Science and linguistics. In J. B. Carroll (Ed.) Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (pp. 207-219). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Losonsky, M. (1999). Introduction (excerpts). In Wilhelm von Humboldt, On language: On the diversity of human language construction and its influence on the mental development of the human species, (Form and linguistic determinism: pp. xvi-xviii; Humboldt today: pp. xxviii-xxx). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Pullum, G. (1991). The great Eskimo vocabulary hoax. University of Chicago Press. pp. 159-171.

Week of Wed. Mar. 15: Color

Kay, P. & Kempton, W. (1984). What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? American Anthropologist, 86, 65-79.

Davidoff J. et al. (1999). Colour categories in a stone-age tribe. Nature, 398, 203-204.

Kay, P. & Regier, T. (2006). Language, thought, and color: recent developments. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 51-54.

Regier, T. et al. (2007). Color naming reflects optimal partitions of color space. PNAS, 104, 1436-1441.

Week of Wed. Mar. 22: The lateralized Whorf hypothesis

Gilbert, A. et al. (2006). Whorf hypothesis is supported in the right visual field but not the left. PNAS, 103, 489-494.

Gilbert, A. et al. (2008). Support for lateralization of the Whorf effect beyond the realm of color discrimination. Brain and Language, 105, 91-98.

Franklin, A. et al. (2008). Lateralization of categorical perception of color changes with color term acquisition. PNAS, 105, 18221-18225.

Week of Wed. Mar. 29: Spring break - no class

Week of Wed. Apr. 5: Space

Majid, A. et al. (2004). Can language restructure cognition? The case for space. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8: 108-114.

Hespos, S. & Spelke, E. (2004). Conceptual precursors to language. Nature, 430, 453-456.

Week of Wed. Apr. 12: Number

Gordon, P. (2004). Numerical cognition without words: Evidence from Amazonia. Science 306, 496-499.

Pica, P. et al. (2004). Exact and approximate arithmetic in an Amazonian indigene group. Science, 306, 499-503.

Butterworth, B. et al. (2008). Numerical thought with and without words: Evidence from indigenous Australian children. PNAS, 105, 13179-13184.

Week of Wed. Apr. 19: Gender

Boroditsky, L., et al. (2003). Sex, syntax, and semantics. In Gentner, D. & Goldin-Meadow, S. (Eds.) Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought (pp. 61-79). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Ramos, S. & Roberson, D. (2011). What constrains grammatical gender effects on semantic judgements? Evidence from Portuguese. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 23, 102-111.

Wednesday April 26: Pirahã

Everett, D. (2005). Cultural constraints on grammar and cognition in Pirahã: Another look at the design features of human language. Current Anthropology 46: 621-646.

Recursion and human thought: Why the Pirahã don't have numbers. A talk with Daniel L. Everett. Edge.org, 2007. (Be sure to continue to the commentary.)

Final exam: Tuesday May 9, 11:30am-2:30pm, place TBA.