TY - JOUR

T1 - Neurolinguistic relativity How language flexes human perception and cognition

AU - Thierry, G.L.

PY - 2016/9

Y1 - 2016/9

N2 - Time has come, perhaps, to go beyond acknowledging that language is a core manifestation of the workings of the human mind and that it relates interactively to all aspects of thinking. The issue, thus, is not to decide whether language and human thought may be ineluctably linked (they just are) but rather to determine what the characteristics of this relationship may be and to understand how language influences –and may be influenced by– nonverbal information processing. Here I review neurolinguistic studies from our group that have shown a link between linguistic distinctions and perception or conceptualization in an attempt to demystify linguistic relativity. On the basis of empirical evidence showing effects of terminology on perception, language-idiosyncratic relationships in semantic memory, grammatical skewing of event conceptualisation, and unconscious modulation of executive functioning by verbal input, I advocate a neurofunctional approach through which we can systematically explore how languages shape human thought

AB - Time has come, perhaps, to go beyond acknowledging that language is a core manifestation of the workings of the human mind and that it relates interactively to all aspects of thinking. The issue, thus, is not to decide whether language and human thought may be ineluctably linked (they just are) but rather to determine what the characteristics of this relationship may be and to understand how language influences –and may be influenced by– nonverbal information processing. Here I review neurolinguistic studies from our group that have shown a link between linguistic distinctions and perception or conceptualization in an attempt to demystify linguistic relativity. On the basis of empirical evidence showing effects of terminology on perception, language-idiosyncratic relationships in semantic memory, grammatical skewing of event conceptualisation, and unconscious modulation of executive functioning by verbal input, I advocate a neurofunctional approach through which we can systematically explore how languages shape human thought

KW - PSYCHOLOGY

U2 - 10.1111/lang.12186

DO - 10.1111/lang.12186

M3 - Article

VL - 66

SP - 690

EP - 713

JO - Language Learning

JF - Language Learning

SN - 0023-8333

IS - 3

ER -