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The phylogeny and ontogeny of adaptations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2006

Thomas E. Dickins*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of East London, LondonE15 4LZ Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics, LondonWC2A 2AE, United Kingdomhttp://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/staff/tom_dickins/index.htm

Abstract:

Locke & Bogin (L&B) rightly point to the absence of ontogeny in theories of language evolution. However, they overly rely upon ontogenetic data to isolate components of the language faculty. Only an adaptationist analysis, of the sort seen in evolutionary psychology, can carve language at its joints and lead to testable predictions about how language works.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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