Of Steven Pinker's Language As An Adaption To The Cognitive Niche

The Universally Shared Capacities of Human Language

Steven Pinker, author of “Language as an Adaption to the Cognitive Niche” argues that language is a “complex biological” adaption that was developed by natural selection through evolution in order for humans to effectively and efficiently communicate with one another. He defines adaption as, “a trait whose genetic basis was shaped by natural selection, as opposed to the everyday sense of a trait that is useful to the individual,” because it has been influential in prolonging the average lifespan and made life easier with time (Pinker, 2003, pg. 17). The “cognitive niche” is involved in this process because it is the practice of transmitting information to others, which has allowed for the

27). Language is therefore sustained because people of all cultures are innately able to adapt to the language most utilized by those around them or create their own, even those with language impairments. He argues that language derives from multiple, intersecting genes that have survived natural selection because it would be unlikely that a single gene could have survived thus far (Pinker, 2003, pg. 34). This evidence rejects Skinner’s behaviorist theory and the idea that language is solely adapted due to environmental and social influences, along with the tabula rasa, or the belief that the mind is a blank slate and thus shaped by behaviorism. Pinker opposes behaviorism, stating in his Ted Talk, “everything that happens to you in a given home over all those years, appears to leave no permanent stamp on your personality or intellect,” instead believing that skills like

On the contrary, people with varying degrees of mental retardation, such as William’s syndrome, may still be able to adequately communicate with language. This supports the idea that language ability does not merely derive from one single source, such as intelligence, but is instead the result of many underlying, instincts able to be passed from parent to offspring (Pinker, 2003, pg. 23). This idea is also supported by evidence that proves FOXP2 is specifically linked with language disorders and may also affect multiple other genes. One of the studies discussed in “Identification of FOXP2 Truncation as a Novel Cause of Developmental Speech and Language Deficits” involved a young girl who had language and hearing impairments but nevertheless tested “normal” in assessments that studied her general intelligence. “Few of these dissociations are absolute, with language or non-linguistic cognition completely spared or completely impaired,” (Pinker, 2003, pg. 23) explaining why multiple genes must be responsible for language impairments. This phenomenon is referred to as pleiotropy, which explains why these disorders have yet to be cured, because the more genes involved, the harder it is to identify them all and create a solution that fixes each of them (MacDermot et al., 2005,