Word, niche and super-niche: How language makes minds matter more

Andy Clark

Word, niche and super-niche: How language makes minds matter more

Andy Clark^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

77 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

How does language (spoken or written) impact thought? One useful way to approach this important but elusive question may be to consider language itself as a cognition-enhancing animal-built structure. To take this perspective is to view language as a kind of self-constructed cognitive niche. These self-constructed cognitive niches play, 1 suggest, three distinct but deeply interlocking roles in human thought and reason. Working together, these three interlocking routines radically transform the human mind, and mark a genuine discontinuity in the space of animal minds.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	255-268
Number of pages	14
Journal	Theoria
Volume	20
Issue number	3
Publication status	Published - Sept 2005
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Cognition-enhancing structure
Cognitive niche
Niche construction

Cite this

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Word, niche and super-niche: How language makes minds matter more

Abstract

Keywords

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