Interactions between language, thought, and perception: Cognitive and neural perspectives

ABSTRACT

The role that language plays in shaping non-linguistic cognitive and perceptual systems has been the subject of much theoretical and experimental attention over the past half-century. Understanding how language interacts with non-linguistic systems can provide insight into broader constraints on cognitive and brain organization. The papers that form this volume investigate various ways in which linguistic structure can interact with and influence how speakers think about and perceive the world, and the related issue of the constraints that in turn shape linguistic representations. These theoretical and empirical contributions support deeper understanding of the interactions between language, thought, and perception, and motivate new approaches for developing directional predictions at both the neural and cognitive levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Language
• perception
• Sapir–Whorf
• linguistic relativity
• semantic
• embodied cognition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NIH [grant numbers R01NS089069, R01EY028535].