Origins of Human Language - Language and Genes

9 important questions on Origins of Human Language - Language and Genes

What if the language ability and cognitive abilities are both good?

People are normally developed then.

What if the language ability is good but the cognitive ability is poor?

William Syndrom or Linguistic Savants

What if the language ability is poor but the cognitive ability is good?

SLI (Specific Language Impairment)
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What kind of syndrome is the "Williams syndrome" (WMS)?

A genetic syndrome of particular interest to language researchers, in which language function appears to be relatively preserved despite more serious impairments in other areas of cognitive function.

What is meant with the term "mental age"?

A person's overall level of cognitive functioning, related to the chronological age of a person with typical development.

Why is comparing people with WMS to people with down syndrome not the best assessment?

Because people with both syndromes have a different mental age, e.g. 6-years old so it would be more logical to compare them with children who are really 6 years old to compare the language abilities

Why was the impression for the researchers that compared WMS and Down misleading?

1) language of WMS was good compared to Down, but that is because Down underperform for their age
2) language abilities are good when compared to visual-spatial and numerical tasks but that's because it is much worse than you would expect
3)  superficial features of WMS language may be used without full control or understanding.

What is the "specific language impairment" (SLI) exactly?


A disorder in which children fail to develop language normally
even though there are no apparent neurological damage or disorders, no general cognitive impairment or delay, no hearing loss, and no abnormal home environment that would explain this failure.

What does the FOXP2 gene , that was identified as important for language, reveal?


It reveals two genetically important differences compared with the chimpanzee version, and researchers speculate that these changes may play an important role in language.

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