Not by thoughts alone: how language supersizes the cognitive toolkit.
We propose that Vaesen's target article (a) underestimates the role of language in humans' cognitive toolkit and thereby (b) overestimates the proposed cognitive discontinuity between chimps and humans. We provide examples of labeling, numerical computation, executive control, and the relation between language and body, concluding that language plays a crucial role in "supersizing humans' cognitive toolkit."
Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg School of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, 5037 AB Tilburg, The Netherlands. h.ijzerman@uvt.nl
Hans
H
Ijzerman
Francesco
F
Foroni
D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013672:Technology; D053001:Tool Use Behavior