Pinker, Steven

Pinker, Steven
▪ 2000

      At the forefront of cognitive science in 1999 was Canadian-born American experimental psychologist Steven Pinker, who in October published an eagerly anticipated book, Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language. In a highly praised earlier book, How the Mind Works (1997), Pinker discussed the development of the human brain in terms of natural selection, applying a Darwinian perspective to a wide range of mental faculties. In Words and Rules, he focused on the human faculty for language, offering an analysis of the cognitive mechanisms that make language possible. Exhibiting a lively sense of humour and a talent for explaining difficult scientific concepts clearly, he argued that the phenomenon of language depended essentially on two distinct “ingredients,” or mental processes—the memorization of words and the manipulation of them with rules of grammar.

      Pinker was born on Sept. 18, 1954, in Montreal. He studied cognitive science at McGill University in Montreal, where he received his B.A. in 1976. He earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology at Harvard University in 1979. After stints as an assistant professor at Harvard (1980–81) and Stanford University (1981–82), he joined the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1989 he was appointed full professor at MIT and became director of the university's Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.

      His early studies on the linguistic behaviour of children led him to endorse noted linguist Noam Chomsky's assertion that humans possess an innate facility for understanding language. Eventually Pinker concluded that this facility arose as an evolutionary adaptation. He expressed this conclusion in his first popular book, The Language Instinct, which became a runaway best-seller and was rated among the top 10 books of 1994 by the New York Times. The book's best-selling sequel, How the Mind Works, earned a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. In How the Mind Works, Pinker expounded a scientific method that he termed “reverse engineering.” The method, which involved analyzing human behaviour in an effort to understand how the brain developed through the process of evolution, gave him a way to explain various cognitive phenomena, such as logical thought and three-dimensional vision.

      Pinker's work, while enthusiastically received in some circles, stirred controversy in others. Predictably, there were religious and philosophical objections to Pinker's strictly biological approach to the mind, but scientific questions were raised as well. Many scientists, including paleobiologist Stephen Jay Gould, felt that the data on natural selection were as yet insufficient to support all of Pinker's claims and that other possible influences on the brain's development existed. Although he conceded that there was much research left to be done, Pinker—along with a considerable number of other experts—remained convinced that he was on the right track.

Sherman Hollar

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Steven Pinker — Steven Arthur Pinker Steven Pinker in 2011 Born September 18, 1954 ( …   Wikipedia

  • Steven Pinker — (Göttingen, 2010) Nacimiento 18 de septiembre de 1954 (57 año …   Wikipedia Español

  • Steven Pinker — (né le 18 septembre 1954, à Montréal, Canada) est un psychologue cognitiviste. Il est reconnu pour son travail sur le processus d apprentissage du langage chez les enfants qui l a conduit à donner une base biologique au concept de grammaire… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Steven Pinker — in Göttingen, 2010. Steven Pinker (* 18. September 1954 in Montreal) ist ein US amerikanischer Professor für Psychologie an der Harvard University. Inhaltsverzeichnis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Pinker — ist der Name folgender Personen: Steven Pinker (* 1954), kanadischer Psychologe, Professor für Psychologie an der Harvard University Susan Pinker (* 1957), kanadische Psychologin, Journalistin und Kolumnistin Diese Seite ist eine B …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Steven — puede referise a: Abreviatura del botánico Christian von Steven 1781 1863. Steven Bochco, cineasta estadounidense. Steven Buscemi, actor estadounidense. Steven Gerrard, futbolista inglés. Steven Klein, fotógrafo estadounidense. Steven Meisel,… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Steven Pinker — (nacido el 18 de setiembre de 1954, en Montreal, Canadá) es psicólogo y lingüista en la Universidad de Harvard, tiene una gran actividad como escritor de libros de divulgación científica. Durante 21 años fue profesor de la cátedra Peter de Florez …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Steven Rose — Steven P. Rose (born July 4 1938 in London, United Kingdom) is a Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at the Open University and University of London. Rose studied biochemistry at King s College, Cambridge, and neurobiology at Cambridge and the… …   Wikipedia

  • Steven P. Rose — (né le 4 juillet 1938 à Londres, Royaume Uni) est un professeur de biologie et neurobiologie à l Open University et à l Université de Londres. Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Bibliographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Stephen Pinker — Steven Pinker (* 18. September 1954 in Montreal) ist Professor für Psychologie an der Harvard University. Steven Pinker hat eine Reihe populärwissenschaftlicher Bücher auf dem Gebiet der Evolutionspsychologie veröffentlicht, die sich unter… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”