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Does language arise from a calculus of dominance?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

Nicholas S. Thompson
Nicholas S. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610. “nthompson@vax.clarku.edu”
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Abstract

Robin Dunbar's hypothesis that language capacity in response to the demands of maintaining large groups suggests a more specific hypothesis that language arose from a cognitive calculus by which animals could predict their status in complex dominance situations.

Type
Continuing Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 1995 , pp. 387
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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