Language and Cognition
Code: 106228Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Science, Technology and Humanities | OB | 2 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Xavier Roque Rodriguez
- Email :
- xavier.roque@uab.cat
Teaching staff (external to UAB)
- Mathias Jaque Hidalgo
- Simon Høffding
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
There are none.
Objectives
The aim of this course is to examine the place of language in our cognitive architecture from different perspectives, such as linguistics, psychology of language and philosophy. It aims, on the one hand, to provide students with the theoretical tools to address questions about the nature of language and linguistic cognition and, on the other, to account for its relationship to other aspects of cognition and thought. The course provides an update on classical theoretical proposals that will enable students to critically analyze the specificity of human language in relation, on the one hand, to other communication systems in the natural world and, on the other, to the generative systems characteristic of AI’s Large Language Models (LLMs).
Learning outcomes
- Produce creative papers and personal projects in the corresponding area of study.
- Gain familiarity with the different programmes of naturalistic study of the mind and their functioning.
- Approach language through specific methods for requesting and using linguistic data.
- Know the structure and evolution of the faculty of language, and the interactions between language and cognition.
- Evaluate the problems posed by the study of language and cognition based on the methods and concepts of philosophy, linguistics, cognitive science and other disciplines.
- Integrate elements from different areas of knowledge to analyse a situation and suggest actions or solutions.
- Promote team spirit and the integration of others' points of view.
Contents
Topic I. The Faculty of Language
I.1. Human Language. Natural Languages. The Faculty of Language
I.2. Biolinguistics: Language as a Biological Capacity of the Human Species. Evidence and Controversies.
I.3. The Nature of Language. Properties of Natural Languages.
I.4. Form and function in the study of natural languages. Current paradigms.
I.5. The computational system and interfaces with other cognitive systems. Language faculty in the narrow and broad senses.
I.6. Cognition, culture, and diversity. The question of universals and linguistic diversity.
Topic II. The Relationships Between Language and Cognition
II.1 Development of Music and Language
II.2 Language and the Embodied Mind
II.3 Language and Thought
II.4 Thought and Large Language Models (LLM)/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Topic III. Language and Cognitive Processes
III.1. Psychological Processes in Language Use
1.1. Basic Concepts of Cognitive Architecture: Computational Theory of Mind and Other Conceptions of Mental Architecture
1.2. Perception and Comprehension of Spoken and Written Language
1.3. Language Production
1.4. Language Disorders in Adults
III.2. Ontogeny and Phylogeny of Language
2.1. Innateness and Specificity in Language Acquisition
2.2. Disorders in Language Development
2.3. Comparative Language and Cognition: Cognition and Communication in Nonhuman Animals; The Problem of Language’s Design Features
2.4. Debates on the Origin of Language
This course is organized around a series of lectures in which instructors will present the topics covered in the syllabus, a series of practical seminars that will require students to prepare in advance using assigned reading materials and to participate in discussions, and the supervised completion of a series of individual assignments and projects. All details regarding the course materials and the dates for completing the activities proposed throughout the course will be provided via the virtual campus platform.
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading course material | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 4, 5 |
| Study and preparation of themes and essays | 62.25 | 2.49 | 1, 6, 7 |
| Essay supervision | 4.25 | 0.17 | 1, 6, 7 |
| Learning exercises | 16 | 0.64 | 1, 6, 7 |
| Lectures | 33 | 1.32 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
This course is organised as (i) a series of lectures in which the teachers will present the topics of the programme, (ii) discussion seminars that will require the prior preparation of the students based on reading materials and the organisation of debates, and (iii) the supervised completion of a series of personal tasks and assignments.
The virtual campus tools will provide all the details regarding the work materials and the dates for the completion of the activities proposed throughout the course.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual oral exam | 34 % | 1 | 0.04 | 4, 5, 6 |
| Written exam | 33 % | 2.5 | 0.1 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| Oral Presentation | 33 % | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 5, 6, 7 |
In addition to lectures with discussions based on the syllabus, students will be divided into groups and will use seminar hours to develop their own project. These groups will serve as a forum for discussion throughout all phases of the project. Students must: formulate an appropriate research question; search for relevant literature and present it to the rest of the group; and draft the various sections of their exam paper, such as the introduction, literature review, analysis, discussion, and conclusion.
Halfway through the course, all students will present their progress to the class and the instructors.
Course assessment will be based on students’ independent completion of a small research project, drawing on the topics covered in the course. It will consist of three different components: 1) An oral presentation halfway through the course; 2) A written exam; 3) An oral exam based on component 2. Components 1 and 2 may be completed in groups; component 3 must be completed individually.
1. Oral presentation: accounts for 33% of the grade
Students will present the progress of their project to the class and the instructors.
2. Written exam: accounts for 33% of the grade
The written exam consists of presenting the research project in the form of an academic paper of 10 to 12 pages.
3. Individual oral exam: accounts for 34% of the grade
The oral exam consists of a brief presentation and a discussion of the written exam. It will be conducted before a panel composed of the course instructors. All students are invited to attend as audience members.
Single assessement
The student who chooses the Single Assessment mode will have to take a final test consisting of a written exam (33 %), an individual oral exam (34 %), and an oral presentation (33 %).
This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
Bibliography
Archer, K. & Wiltsche, H. (2026) “Extending Human Intelligence Through AI”
Belinchón, M.; Igoa, J.M.; Rivière, A. Psicología del lenguaje: Investigación y teoría. Madrid: Trotta, 2009 (1a ed. 1992).
Boeckx, Cedric. Biolinguistics. ICREA.
Carruthers, P.; J. Boucher (Eds.). Language and Thought: Interdisciplinary Themes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Carruthers, P. Language in Cognition. En: E. Margolis, R. Samuels, and S. Stich (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Cognitive Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Clark, A. (1997). Being There: Putting Brain, Body and World Together Again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. Hi ha trad. cast.: Estar ahí, Barcelona: Paidós, 1999.
Cross, I. (2009) “The evolutionary nature of musical meaning” Musicae Scientiae, 13(2_suppl), 179-200.
Cuetos, F., González, J. y De Vega, M. Psicología del lenguaje. Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana, 2015.
Chomsky, Noam. Sobre la naturaleza y el lenguaje. Tres Cantos: Akal, 2003.
Chomsky, Noam. What Kind of Creatures Are We? New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.
Di Sciullo, A. & C. Boeckx (eds.) (2011). The Biolinguistic Enterprise. Oxford University Press.
Dreyfus, H. (1972). What Computers Can’t do. Harper & Row.
Eguren L. y Fernández Soriano, O. Introducción a una sintaxis minimista. Madrid, Gredos, 2016.
Escandell Vidal, M. (coord.) (2011). El lenguaje humano. UNED
Escandell, M. Victoria. La comunicación. Lengua, cognición y sociedad. Tres Cantos: Akal, 2014.
Evans, V. (2014). The Language Myth. Why language is not an instinct. Cambridge University Press.
Gallego, Ángel. Manual de sintaxis Minimista. Tres Cantos: Akal, 2021.
Gentner, D.; S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.). Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003.
Gomila, A. Verbal Minds. Language and the Architecture of Cognition. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2012.
Gumperz, J. J.; Levinson, S. C. (Eds.). Rethinking Linguistic Relativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Hauser, M. D., Chomsky, N. & Fitch, W. T. (2002). The faculty of language: What is it, who has it, and how did it evolve? Science, 298(5598).
Jackendoff, R. (1996). How language helps us think. Pragmatics and Cognition 4 (1996): 1–24.
Jackendoff, R. (2002). Foundations of Language. Oxford University Press.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago University Press.
Langland-Hassan, P.; A. Vicente (Eds.). Inner Speech: Nature and Functions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Mairal, R. y J. Gil (eds.) (2003). En torno a los universales lingüísticos. Akal.
Mendívil-Giró, J. L. Origen, evolución y diversidad de las lenguas: una aproximación biolingüística. Berna: Peter Lang, 2009.
Mendívil-Giró, José Luis; J. C. Moreno-Cabrera. On Biology, History and Culture in Human Language. A Critical Overview. Sheffield: Equinox, 2014.
Mendívil-Giró, José-Luis. What are Languages? A Biolinguistic Perspective. Open Linguistics 1 (2014): 71–95.
Mithen, S (2004). The Singing Neanderthals. Harvard University Press.
Newmeyer, F. (1998). Language Form and Language Function. MIT Press.
Pinker, S. The Language Instinct. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994. Hi ha trad. cast.: El instinto del lenguaje, Madrid: Alianza, 1995.
Pinker, S. The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. New York: Viking Penguin, 2007.
Sacks, O. (1988). Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1988. Hi ha trad. cast.: Veo una voz. Viaje al mundo de los sordos, Madrid: Anagrama, 2006.
Sedivy, J. Language in Mind: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 2014.
Spivey, M. J.; McRae, K; Joanisse, M. F. The Cambridge Handbook of Psycholinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Tomasello, M. (2013). Los orígenes de la comunicación humana. Katz editores.
Vega, M. de y Cuetos, F. (Eds.). Psicolingüística del español. Madrid: Trotta, 1999.
Vygotsky, L. S. Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962. Hi ha trad. cast.: Pensamiento y lenguaje, Barcelona: Paidós, 2020.
Whorf, B. Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1956. Hi ha trad. cast.: Lenguaje, pensamiento y realidad, Barcelona: Barral, Barcelona, 1971.
Wilson, R.A. y Keil, F. Enciclopedia del MIT de ciencias cognitivas (2 vols.). Madrid: Síntesis, 2002.
Software
No specific software required.
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 20 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 20 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |