TALK: "Global aphasia: the case for autonomy of language and thought" by Rosemary Varley 13/12/2014

Wdnesday, 3rd of December 2014

Grammar & Cognition group 
Dept. Lingüística UB

Global aphasia: the case for autonomy of language and thought

A càrrec de: 

Rosemary Varley

Psychology & Language Sciences, University College London

Place: Edifici Josep Carner. Gran Via-Aribau

Time: 18h

Room: Sala de professors, 5a planta

Resum

Global aphasia: the case for autonomy of language and thought

There are many claims within cognitive science that language plays an essential role in other domains of intrinsically non-language cognition such as social, spatial or mathematical reasoning. The nature of these claims differ. Strong versions of the language and thought hypothesis propose that the mechanisms and representations of language are necessary for sustaining many forms of thought, while other positions adopt the weaker view that they merely support or scaffold thinking.

The performance of people with severe aphasic language impairment allows evaluation of claims of linguistic mediation in other domains of reasoning in the established/adult cognitive system. Indeed, comparisons of individuals with severe lexical versus grammatical impairment provides unique insights into the different roles these linguistic components might play in reasoning. 

In this talk, I will report the performance of people with severe aphasia in a range of non-language domains, including understanding communicative intentions, reorientation and calculation. Our results reveal dissociations between severe impairment of language and residual reasoning capacity, particularly in the case of agrammatism. These findings suggest that, in the mature mind, there is considerable autonomy between language and various forms of thought.