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More than language is needed to represent and combine different core knowledge components

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2024

Peter Krøjgaard Open the ORCID record for Peter Krøjgaard [Opens in a new window] ,
Trine Sonne  and
Osman S. Kingo
Peter Krøjgaard*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and the Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark peter@psy.au.dk trines@psy.au.dk osman@psy.au.dk
Trine Sonne
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and the Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark peter@psy.au.dk trines@psy.au.dk osman@psy.au.dk
Osman S. Kingo
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and the Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark peter@psy.au.dk trines@psy.au.dk osman@psy.au.dk
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

We question Spelke's key claim that the medium, in which contents from different core knowledge systems can be represented and combined, is language-based. Recalling an episodic memory, playing chess, and conducting mental rotation are tasks where core knowledge information is represented and combined. Although these tasks can be described by means of language, these tasks are not inherently language-based. Hence, language may be an important subset of an abstraction medium – not the medium as such.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e135
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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