Language system is closely related to human cognitive state
August 28, 2024 09:52 Source: "Chinese Social Sciences Journal" Issue 2965, August 28, 2024 Author: Lian Zhixian/Compiled

  Bet365 app download Language communication is essentially a social activity,Enable people to exchange ideas。All languages ​​have words like "this" and "that" to distinguish between near and far。for example,Languages ​​such as English or Hebrew have two such demonstratives。Languages ​​such as Spanish or Japanese have three such indicators,In Spanish,“este” means something very close to the speaker,“ese” means something far away from the speaker but close to the listener,And "aque" means something far away from both parties。

Paula Rubio-Fernández, senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, and Julian Jara-Ettinger, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University, USA )Recent research shows,These indicator words can be used to direct the listener’s attention,and establish joint attention,i.e. through contact、Following with eyes、Gesture pointing, etc.,The act of paying attention to an object together with others。

Researchers said,Shared attention is a unique human ability,It links language and social cognition。Demonstrative words are universal,Thus appeared early in the evolution bet365 live casino games of language,Also learned early in children's growth,This is found in all known languages。

Directing the listener’s attention is part of the meaning of the pronoun from a semantic perspective,It is also a general principle of social cognition from the perspective of pragmatics,There is still controversy。In order to study this issue,Researchers use computer modeling,and conducted research on speakers of 10 different languages,The results show,Demonstratives are universal tools connecting language and social cognition。

Study participants will see a picture,Shows a speaker asking for an item from a listener standing on the other side of a long table,The listener may already be looking at the target。Participants Bet365 app download need to act as speakers,Choose an indicator word from your native language to obtain this item。

Result display,Participants are not only sensitive to the location of the target,And also very sensitive to the listener’s attention。As expected,In different languages,Signal words have different meanings。for example,"This" (as in English "this one") sometimes has a spatial meaning,means "an object close to me",But it also means joint attention,means "the object we are all looking at",Or "psychological" purpose,Hope to draw the listener’s attention to the speaker。Interesting thing,Speakers of languages ​​using a three-word system often use a middle word (such as "ese" in Spanish) bet365 live casino games to express joint attention。

Researchers found,Demonstrative words are effective attention tools,In different languages,The frequency of spatial meaning and joint attention meaning represented by demonstrative words varies。This study proves,Representations of other people’s cognitive states (i.e. other people’s attention) are implicit in language,This shows that the most basic components of the language system rely heavily on social cognition。

(Lian Zhixian/Compiled)

Editor: Zhang Jing
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