The next talk in the CDC Seminar series will be given by:
Soonja Choi, San Diego State University
Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 5 PM
Location: CEU Cognitive Development Center, Hattyú u. 14, 3rd floor
Language and Thought: Spatial Semantics & Spatial Cognition from Infancy to Adulthood
Abstract:
Languages differ significantly in the way they categorize spatial
relations. For example, English makes a distinction between containment
(e.g. putting an apple IN a bowl) and support (e.g. putting a cup ON a
table), whereas Korean makes a distinction between loose fit and tight
fit regardless of containment and support. In Korean, the verb KKITA
‘tight fit or interlock’ is used for both a tight-fit containment
relation such as ‘putting a book tightly in its box-shaped cover’ and a
tight-fit support relation such as ‘putting a Lego piece tightly onto
another’.
The extensiveness of cross-linguistic differences in spatial
semantic categorization found in recent studies on adult grammars raises
questions about when and how children acquire the spatial semantic
system of their native language, and more generally, about the
relationship between language and cognition in children and adults. In
this talk, I present studies that examine language-specific input and
spatial cognition in learners and adult speakers of English and Korean.
In particular, I examine whether and to what extent language-specific
semantics can influence nonverbal spatial categorization involving tight
fit, containment and support. Overall, my studies show that there is a
dynamic interaction between language and cognition from an early age and
that language starts to influence spatial cognition as children use
spatial words productively. However, some perceptual aspects persist and
contribute to spatial categorization in certain contexts regardless of
language-specific input.
Cognitive Science events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.hu/events