scholarly journals Mutual bootstrapping between language and analogical processing

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dedre Gentner ◽  
Stella Christie

AbstractWhat makes us so smart as a species, and what makes children such rapid learners? We argue that the answer to both questions lies in a mutual bootstrapping system comprised of (1) our exceptional capacity for relational cognition and (2) symbolic systems that augment this capacity. The ability to carry out structure-mapping processes of alignment and inference is inherent in human cognition. It is arguably the key inherent difference between humans and other great apes. But an equally important difference is that humans possess a symbolic language.The acquisition of language influences cognitive development in many ways. We focus here on the role of language in a mutually facilitating partnership with relational representation and reasoning. We suggest a positive feedback relation in which structural alignment processes support the acquisition of language, and in turn, language—especially relational language—supports structural alignment and reasoning.We review three kinds of evidence (a) evidence that analogical processes support children's learning in a variety of domains; (b) more specifically, evidence that analogical processing fosters the acquisition of language, especially relational language; and (c) in the other direction, evidence that acquiring language fosters children's ability to process analogies, focusing on spatial language and spatial analogies. We conclude with an analysis of the acquisition of cardinality—which we offer as a canonical case of how the combination of language and analogical processing fosters cognitive development.

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 80-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dietmar H. Heidemann

In the Encyclopaedia Logic, Hegel states that ‘philosophy … contains the sceptical as a moment within itself — specifically as the dialectical moment’ (§81, Addition 2), and that ‘scepticism’ as ‘the dialectical moment itself is an essential one in the affirmative Science’ (§78). On the one hand, the connection between scepticism and dialectic is obvious. Hegel claims that scepticism is a problem that cannot be just removed from the philosophical agenda by knock-down anti-sceptical arguments. Scepticism intrinsically belongs to philosophical thinking; that is to say, it plays a constructive role in philosophical thinking. On the other hand, scepticism has to be construed as the view according to which we cannot know whether our beliefs are true, i.e., scepticism plays a destructive role in philosophy no matter what. It is particularly this role that clashes with Hegel's claim of having established a philosophical system of true cognition of the entirety of reality. In the following I argue that for Hegel the constructive and the destructive role of scepticism are reconcilable. I specifically argue that it is dialectic that makes both consistent since scepticism is a constitutive element of dialectic.In order to show in what sense scepticism is an intrinsic feature of dialectic I begin by sketching Hegel's early view of scepticism specifically with respect to logic and metaphysics. The young Hegel construes logic as a philosophical method of human cognition that inevitably results in ‘sceptical’ consequences in that it illustrates the finiteness of human understanding. By doing so, logic not only nullifies finite understanding but also introduces to metaphysics, i.e., the true philosophical science of the absolute.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 260-267
Author(s):  
Virve-Anneli Vihman ◽  
Diane Nelson

AbstractMost, if not all, languages exhibit “animacy effects”: grammatical structures interact with the relative animacy of noun referents, as represented on various versions of animacy scales, with human discourse participants at one end and inanimate objects at the other. Cross-linguistic evidence attests to a range of linguistic phenomena conditioned by animacy, with complex effects requiring (a) subtler distinctions than a binary contrast [± animate] and (b) more sophisticated analyses than mapping higher animacy to higher grammatical role.This paper introduces the Special Issue, “Effects of Animacy in Grammar and Cognition”, in which the linguistic interest in grammatical effects of animacy is aligned with broader questions concerning animacy in cognition, including the origins of animacy in language, the biases underlying how we attend to animacy distinctions and how animacy affects discourse. Recent work in cognitive science and adjacent fields has contributed to the understanding of the role of animacy across linguistic domains. Yet, despite the consensus that sensitivity to animacy is a property central to human cognition, there is no agreement on how to incorporate animacy within linguistic theories. This SI focusses on the cognitive construal of animacy, aiming to extend our understanding of its role in grammar(s) and theory.


Author(s):  
Axel Fleisch

The convergence between a linguistically motivated interest in cognition, on the one hand, and descriptive and typological interests, on the other, causes a growing number of scholars to recognize the need for enhanced linguistic anthropological work in the African context, which promises to be beneficial to both the study of human cognition and a richer understanding of African language cultures. By looking at how certain key areas of cognitive linguistics (conceptual metaphor, spatial language, temporality) have been applied to the study of African languages, this chapter focuses on the intersection of both perspectives: that of descriptivists and typologists. Current trends in the study of African languages that address language and cognition draw on grammaticalization studies, neo-relativism, and the emergence of linguistic areas by cross-linguistic conceptual convergence. How these relate to each other is briefly outlined in the second part of this chapter.


1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (05) ◽  
pp. 1271-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
C M A Henkens ◽  
V J J Bom ◽  
W van der Schaaf ◽  
P M Pelsma ◽  
C Th Smit Sibinga ◽  
...  

SummaryWe measured total and free protein S (PS), protein C (PC) and factor X (FX) in 393 healthy blood donors to assess differences in relation to sex, hormonal state and age. All measured proteins were lower in women as compared to men, as were levels in premenopausal women as compared to postmenopausal women. Multiple regression analysis showed that both age and subgroup (men, pre- and postmenopausal women) were of significance for the levels of total and free PS and PC, the subgroup effect being caused by the differences between the premenopausal women and the other groups. This indicates a role of sex-hormones, most likely estrogens, in the regulation of levels of pro- and anticoagulant factors under physiologic conditions. These differences should be taken into account in daily clinical practice and may necessitate different normal ranges for men, pre- and postmenopausal women.


1998 ◽  
pp. 61-62
Author(s):  
N. S. Jurtueva

In the XIV century. centripetal tendencies began to appear in the Moscow principality. Inside the Russian church, several areas were distinguished. Part of the clergy supported the specificobar form. The other understood the need for transformations in society. As a result, this led to a split in the Russian church in the 15th century for "non-possessors" and "Josephites". The former linked the fate of the future with the ideology of hesychasm and its moral transformation, while the latter sought support in alliance with a strong secular power.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Feldman

This paper is a contribution to the growing literature on the role of projective identification in understanding couples' dynamics. Projective identification as a defence is well suited to couples, as intimate partners provide an ideal location to deposit unwanted parts of the self. This paper illustrates how projective identification functions differently depending on the psychological health of the couple. It elucidates how healthier couples use projective identification more as a form of communication, whereas disturbed couples are inclined to employ it to invade and control the other, as captured by Meltzer's concept of "intrusive identification". These different uses of projective identification affect couples' capacities to provide what Bion called "containment". In disturbed couples, partners serve as what Meltzer termed "claustrums" whereby projections are not contained, but imprisoned or entombed in the other. Applying the concept of claustrum helps illuminate common feelings these couples express, such as feeling suffocated, stifled, trapped, held hostage, or feeling as if the relationship is killing them. Finally, this paper presents treatment challenges in working with more disturbed couples.


Moreana ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (Number 207) (1) ◽  
pp. 36-56
Author(s):  
Gerard Wegemer

After establishing a context of More's lifelong engagement with the “calculus” of pleasure, this essay shows how the section devoted to the Utopians' pleasure philosophy is structured around five formulations of a “rule” to calculate “true and honest [honesta]” pleasure in ways that playfully imitate and echo the “rule” Cicero formulates several times in De officiis to discern one's duty when there seems to be a conflict between honestas et utilitas. When followed, the Utopian pleasure calculus shows the necessary role of societas, officii, iustitia, caritas, and the other aspects of human nature, most importantly friendship, that Cicero stresses in his rule and that he argued Epicurus ignored. Much of the irony and humor of this section depends on seeing the predominance of Ciceronian vocabulary in Raphael's unusual defense [patrocinium] of pleasure, rather than a Ciceronian defense of duty rooted in honestas. Throughout, however, this essay also shows how More goes beyond Cicero by including Augustinian and biblical allusions to suggest ways that our final end is not as Epicurus or the Stoics or Cicero claim; the language and allusions of this section point to a level of good cheer and care for neighbors and for God in ways quite different from any classical thinker.


1973 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 769-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Yokoyama ◽  
Hiroshi Tomogane ◽  
Katuaki Ôta
Keyword(s):  

ABSTRACT A non-steroidal oestrogen antagonist, MER-25, was administered to cycling rats for elucidating the role of oestrogen in the surge of prolactin observed on the afternoon of pro-oestrus (POe). In animals injected with 20 mg of MER-25 intramuscularly on the afternoon (16.30 h) of the first day of dioestrus (D-1), the surge of prolactin was blocked while the level of prolactin on the afternoon of POe of these animals was significantly higher than that of the corresponding controls injected with oil. Ovulation was also blocked in these animals treated with the drug on the afternoon of D-l. On the other hand, treatment on the morning (10.30 h) of the 2nd day of dioestrus failed to prevent not only the surge of prolactin but also ovulation. These observations provide strong evidence for the view that oestrogen is responsible for the surge of prolactin on the afternoon of POe, and that the surge is accompanied by that of LH.


1960 ◽  
Vol XXXIV (III) ◽  
pp. 411-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin J. Fregly ◽  
Kenneth M. Cook

ABSTRACT The anti-thyroid drugs, thiouracil, propylthiouracil, and methimazole, prevented both development of elevated blood pressure and cardiac hypertrophy usually accompanying kidney encapsulation with latex envelopes. These drugs also reduced elevated blood pressure of rats with hypertension of 13 to 40 weeks' duration prior to drug administration. Addition of desiccated thyroid powder to diet containing an anti-thyroid drug overcame the anti-hypertensive effect of the latter. Withdrawal of thyroid powder only was followed by return of blood pressure to previous low level within 3 weeks. The results suggest that the anti-hypertensive effect of these drugs is related directly to the hypothyroidism produced rather than to extrathyroidal effects of the drugs. Comparison of potencies of the 3 drugs in terms of anti-hypertensive effect, inhibition of growth rate, increase in testicular size, and increase in thyroid size suggests that propylthiouracil and methimazole are equally potent per unit weight of drug. Thiouracil has approximately half the potency of the other two.


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