The impact of generative linguistics on psychology: Language acquisition, a paradigm example Cover Image
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The impact of generative linguistics on psychology: Language acquisition, a paradigm example
The impact of generative linguistics on psychology: Language acquisition, a paradigm example

Author(s): Caterina Marino, Judit Gervain
Subject(s): Language studies, Theoretical Linguistics
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: language acquisition; generative linguistics; poverty of the stimulus; logical problem of language acquisition; bootstrapping theories of language acquisition

Summary/Abstract: Noam Chomsky's early work was at the core of the “cognitive revolution” in the 1950s-60s, leading to a paradigm shift from a behavioralist to a mentalistic approach to human psychology. Central to this revolution has been the question of how infants learn language. Here, we provide an overview of how the generative enterprise has shaped research on language acquisition over the last decades. We argue that a large body of empirical knowledge about infants' representation of grammar has accumulated. Many of these questions would most likely not have been investigated empirically without the impetus of such a mentalistic approach.

  • Issue Year: 66/2019
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 371-396
  • Page Count: 26
  • Language: English