Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dissociations between language and cognition: Cases and implications

  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An important issue for the cognitive sciences is whether grammar is to any nontrivial extent an autonomous cognitive system. Current cognitive hypotheses of language acquisition would argue against an autonomous linguistic system and would support the notion that language emerges from more general cognitive knowledge and is throughout its development fundamentally tied to a nonlinguistic cognitive base. This paper explores this issue and presents data from case studies of children showing clear dissociations between language and nonlanguage cognitive abilities. The implications of such data are discussed. The major implications appear to be that lexical and relational semantic abilities are deeply linked to broader conceptual development but morphological and syntactic abilities are not. The development of a normal linguistic system, however, one in which grammar is systematically related to meaning, requires concurrent and concomitant linguistic and nonlingustic cognitive development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Reference notes

  1. Ingram, D.Stages in the development of one word utterances. Paper presented at Stanford Child Language Research Forum, Stanford University, April 1974.

  2. Curtiss, S., Fromkin, V., & Yamada, J.The independence of language as a cognitive system. Unpublished manuscript, 1979.

  3. Rankin, J., Aram, D., & Horwitz, S.A comparison of right and left hemiplegic children's language ability. Paper presented at the eighth annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society, 1980.

References

  1. Bates, E.Language and context: The acquisition of pragmatics. New York: Academic Press, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bates, E.The emergence of symbols. New York: Academic Press, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bates, E., Benigni, L., Bretherton, I., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V.Cognition and communication from 9–13 months: A correlational study program on cognitive and perceptual factors in human development (Report No. 12). Institute for the Study of Intellectual Behavior. Boulder: University of Colorado, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bay, E. Ontogeny of stable speech areas in the human brain. In E. H. Lenneberg & E. Lenneberg (Eds.),Foundations of language development: A multidisciplinary approach (Vol. 2). New York: Academic Press, 1975. Pp. 21–30.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bloom, L.Language development: Form and function in emerging grammars. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bloom, L.One word at a time. The Hague: Mouton, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Braunwald, S. Context, word, and meaning: Toward a communicational analysis of lexical acquisition. In A. Lock (Ed.),Action, gesture and symbol. London: Academic Press, 1978. Pp. 485–527.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Braunwald, S., & Brislin, R. On being understood: The listener's contribution to the toddler's ability to communicate. In P. French (Ed.),The development of meaning. Hiroshima: Bunka Hyoron, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Brown, R.A first language: The early stages. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Bruner, J.Processes of cognitive growth: Infancy. Worcester, Massachusetts: Clark University with Barre Publishers, 1968.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Bruner, J. The ontogenesis of speech acts.Journal of Child Language, 1975,2, 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Clark, E. On the acquisition of the meaning of before and after.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1971,10, 266–275.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Clark, E. What's in a word: On the child's acquisition of semantics in his first language. In T. Moore (Ed.),Cognitive development and the acquisition of language. New York: Academic Press, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Clark, E. First language acquisition. In J. Morton (Ed.),Psycholinguistics: Developmental and pathological. New York: Cornell University Press, 1977. Pp. 3–72.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Corrigan, R. Language development as related to stage 6 object permanence development.Journal of Child Language, 1978,5, 173–190.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Cromer, R. Receptive language in the mentally retarded: Processes and diagnostic distinctions. In R. Schiefelbusch & L. Lloyd (Eds.),Language perspectives: Acquisition, retardation, and intervention. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1974. Pp. 237–268.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Curtiss, S.Genie: A psycholinguistic study of a modern-day “Wild Child.” New York: Academic Press, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Curtiss, S. Genie: Language and cognition.UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, 1979,1, 15–62.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Curtiss, S. A critical period for the acquisition of grammar: Evidence from feral and isolated children.UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, 1980,2, 21–36.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Curtiss, S. Feral children: A review.Mental Retardation: An Annual Review, 1981.

  21. Curtiss, S., Fromkin, V., & Krashen, S. Language development in the mature (minor) right hemisphere.ITL: Review of Applied Linguistics, 1978,39–40, 23–37.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Curtiss, S., Fromkin, V., Krashen, S., Rigler, D., & Rigler, M. The linguistic development of Genie.Language, 1974,50(3), 528–554.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Curtiss, S., Yamada, J., & Fromkin, V. How independent is language? On the question of formal parallels between grammar and action.UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, 1979,1, 131–157.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Day, P., & Ulatowska, H. Perceptual, cognitive, and linguistic development after early hemispherectomy: Two case studies.Brain and Language, 1979,7, 17–33.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Dennis, M., & Kohn, B. Comprehension of syntax in infantile hemiplegics after cerebral hemidecortication: Left hemisphere superiority.Brain and Language, 1975,2, 475–486.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Dennis, M., & Whitaker, H. Language acquisition following hemidecortication: Linguistic superiority of the left over the right hemisphere.Brain and Language, 1976,3(3), 404–433.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Dihoff, R., & Chapman, R. First words: Their origins in action. Papers and Reports on ChildLanguage Development (Stanford University), 1977,13, 1–7.

  28. Edwards, D. Sensory-motor intelligence and semantic relations in early child grammar.Cognition, 1973,2, 395–434.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Ervin-Tripp, S. Discourse agreement: How children answer questions. In J. Hayes (Ed.),Cognition and the development of language. New York: Wiley, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ervin-Tripp, S., & Miller, W. Early discourse: Some questions about questions. In M. Lewis & L. Rosenblum (Eds.),Interaction, conversation, and the development of language. New York: Wiley, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Folger, M., & Leonard, L. Language and sensorimotor development during the early period of referential speech.Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 1978,21(3), 519–527.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Fromkin, V., Krashen, S., Curtiss, S., Rigler, D., & Rigler, M. The development of language in Genie: A case of language acquisition beyond the “critical period.”Brain and Language, 1974,1, 81–107.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Garnica, O. Non-verbal concomitants of language input to children. In N. Waterson & C. Snow (Eds.),The development of communication. New York: Wiley, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Greenfield, P. The grammar of action in cognitive development. In C. Walter, L. Rogers, & J. Finzi-Fried (Eds.),Conference on human brain function. Los Angeles: BRI Publications Office, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Greenfield, P. Structural parallels between language and action in development. In A. Lock (Ed.),Action, gesture, and symbol: The emergence of language. London: Academic Press, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Greenfield, P., Nelson, K., & Saltzman, E. The development of rule-bound strategies for manipulating seriated cups: A parallel between action and grammar.Cognitive Psychology, 1972,3, 291–310.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Greenfield, P., & Schneider, L. Building a tree structure: The development of hierarchical complexity and interrupted strategies in children's construction activity.Developmental Psychology, 1977,13(4), 299–313.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Inhelder, B., Lezine, I., Sinclair, H., & Stambak, M. Les debuts de la fonction symbolique.Archives Psychologiques, 1972,41, 187–243.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Klahr, D., & Wallace, J.Cognitive development: An information processing view. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  40. McIntire, M. The acquisition of American Sign Language hand configurations.Sign Language Studies, 1977,16, 247–266.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Mehler, J. Studies in language and thought development. In R. Huxley & E. Ingram (Eds.),Language acquisition: Models and methods. New York: Academic Press, 1971. Pp. 201–225.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Menyuk, P. Comparison of grammar of children with functionally deviant and normal speech.Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 1964,7, 109–121.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Menyuk, P.Language and maturation. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Mindel, E., & Vernon, M.They grow in silence: The deaf child and his family. Silverspring: National Association of the Deaf, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Molfese, D.Cerebral asymmetry in infants, children, and adults: Auditory evoked responses to speech and music stimuli. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1972.

  46. Naro, A. The origin of West African pidgin. In C. Corum, T. C. Smith-Stark, & A. Weiser (Eds.),Papers from the Ninth Regional Meeting. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, 1973. Pp. 442–449.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Naro, A. A review of “Pidgin and creole linguistics” by A. Valdman (ed.).Language, 1979,55(4), 886–893.

  48. Nelson, K. Concept, word, and sentence: Interrelations in acquisition and development.Psychological Review, 1974,81, 267–285.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Nelson, K. Facilitating children's syntax.Developmental Psychology, 1976,13, 101–107.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Newport, E., Gleitman, H., & Gleitman, L. Mother, I'd rather do it myself: Some effects and non-effects of maternal speech style. In C. Snow & C. Ferguson (Eds.),Talking to children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Piaget, J., & Morf, A. Les isomorphismes partiels entre les structures logiques et les structures perceptives. In J. Piaget (Ed.),Etudes d'epistemologie genetique (Vol. 6). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Schiff, N. The influence of deviant maternal input on the development of language during the preschool years.Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 1979,22, 581–603.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Schlessinger, H., & Meadow, K.Sound and sign. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Shatz, M. How to do things by asking: Form-function pairings in mothers' questions and their relations to children's responses.Child Development, 1979,50, 1093–1099.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Shatz, M. On mechanisms of language acquisition: Can features of the communicative environment account for development? In L. Gleitman & E. Wanner (Eds.),Language acquisition: The state of the art. New York: Cambridge University Press, in press.

  56. Sinclair, H. Language and cognition in subnormals: A Piagetian view. In N. O'Connor (Ed.),Language, cognitive deficits, and retardation. London: Butterworths, 1975. (a)

    Google Scholar 

  57. Sinclair, H. The role of cognitive structures in language acquisition. In E. H. Lenneberg & E. Lenneberg (Eds.),Foundations of language development: A multidisciplinary approach. (Vol. 1). New York: Academic Press, 1975. Pp. 223–238. (b)

    Google Scholar 

  58. Slobin, D. Cognitive prerequisites for the development of grammar. In C. Ferguson & D. Slobin (Eds.),Studies of child language development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Slobin, D.The origins of grammatical encoding of events. Paper presented to Symposium “Beyond description in child language,” Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Projektgruppe fur Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 1979. In W. Devtsch, et al. (Eds.),The child's construction of language, in press.

  60. Snow, C. E. Mother's speech to children learning language.Child Language, 1972,43, 549–565.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Woods, B., & Teuber, H. Changing patterns of childhood aphasia.Annals of Neurology, 1978,3(3), 273–280.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Yamada, J. Preliminary evidence for the independence of language from cognition: A case study of a mentally retarded adolescent.UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, 1981. (a)

  63. Yamada, J.Evidence for the independence of language from cognition: A case study of a mentally retarded adolescent. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angles, 1981. (b)

    Google Scholar 

  64. Yamada, J. & Curtiss, S. Language and cognition in a case of Turner's syndrome.UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, in press,3.

  65. Zukow, P., Reilly, J., & Greenfield, P. Making the absent present: Facilitating the transition from sensori-motor to linguistic communication. In K. Nelson (Ed.),Children's language. New York: Gardner Press, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Los Angeles

    Susan Curtiss

Authors
  1. Susan Curtiss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Curtiss, S. Dissociations between language and cognition: Cases and implications. J Autism Dev Disord 11, 15–30 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531338

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531338

Keywords

Search

Navigation