How language processing can shape a common model of cognition

Abstract

What role does the study of natural language play in the task of developing a unified theory and common model of cognition? Language is perhaps the most complex behaviour that humans exhibit, and, as such, is one of the most difficult problems for understanding human cognition. Linguistic theory can both inform and be informed by unified models of cognition. We discuss (1) how computational models of human cognition can provide insight into how humans produce and comprehend language and (2) how the problem of modelling language processing raises questions and creates challenges for widely used computational models of cognition. Evidence from the literature suggests that behavioural phenomena, such as recency and priming effects, and cognitive constraints, such as working memory limits, affect how language is produced by humans in ways that can be predicted by computational cognitive models. But just as computational models can provide new insights into language, language can serve as a test for these models. For example, simulating language learning requires the use of more powerful machine learning techniques, such as deep learning and vector symbolic architectures, and language comprehension requires a capacity for on-the-fly situational model construction. In sum, language plays an important role in both shaping the development of a common model of the mind, and, in turn, the theoretical understanding of language stands to benefit greatly from the development of a common model.

Unspeakable motion: Selective action-verb impairments in Parkinson’s disease patients without mild cognitive impairment

“…Por lo tanto, los verbos de acción no forman parte de una representación simbólica abstracta en el cerebro, están vinculados a estructuras corticales que dirigen la ejecución y la acción (Kemmerer, 2006), que se encuentran representadas en las regiones frontales. Ahora bien, se ha evidenciado mediante estudios con imágenes que el componente semántico de los verbos transitivos se encuentra representado en la corteza parietal inferior izquierda y los patrones de movimiento visual relacionados con el procesamiento semántico de verbos de acción se procesa en la corteza temporal media posterior izquierda (Wu & Chatterjee, 2004) Los estudios descritos anteriormente, evidencian cómo interactúan el sistema sensoriomotor con las funciones cognitiva y lingüística; evidenciando la relación neurobiológica, neurocognitiva y neurolingüística referida al procesamiento del movimiento y la acción, por lo tanto, de acuerdo a lo propuesto por Kelly & Reitter (2018) se debe continuar con investigaciones que contribuyan con un modelo cognitivo, computacional y unificado que permita dilucidar cómo la mente interactúa en la producción del lenguaje humano, comprendiendo la naturaleza del procesamiento del lenguaje.…”