?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=A+%22Sudden+Appearance%22+model+for+the+Evolution+of+Human+Cognition+and+Language&rft.creator=Lanyon%2C+Susan+J.&rft.subject=Primatology&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.description=The+debate+over+the+evolution+of+an+innate+language+capacity+seems+to+divide+into+two+principle+schools+of+thought.+Jackendoff+(1999a%2C+1999b)+has+argued+that+language+processing+is+based+on+three+autonomous+generative+components%2C+phonological%2C+syntactic%2C+and+semantic%2Fconceptual+and+he+is+committed+to+the+view+that+the+language+faculty+evolved+incrementally+through+natural+selection.+Pinker+(1994%2C+333)+also+sees+%60%60no+reason+to+doubt+that+the+principle+explanation+is+the+same+as+for+any+other+complex+instinct+or+organ%2C+Darwin's+theory+of+natural+selection%22%2C+when+theorizing+about+language+evolution.+An+alternative+approach+has+been+taken+recently+by+Hauser%2C+Chomsky+and+Fitch+(2002).+They+argue+that+the+property+that+makes+human+language+unique+(recursion)%2C+may+be+a+recent+emergence+in+hominid+evolution.+It+follows+from+this+line+of+thought+that+most+of+the+anatomical+characteristics+that+support+language+(e.g.+vocal+tract+and+controlled+breathing)+may+be+merely+variations+of+previously+evolved+biological+structures%2C+and+not+of+a+different+kind.+Leaving+aside+the+argument+of+whether+these+structures+evolved+gradually%2C+they+did+not+evolve+nor+were+they+%60%60tuned%22+to+serve+the+faculty+of+language.+Jackendoff+(1999a)+accuses+those+who+do+not+accept+that+language+arose+gradually+through+natural+selection+as+having+been+%60%60forced+to+devalue+evolutionary+argumentation%22.+Jackendoff's+concern+seems+to+stem+from+the+view+that+there+is+only+one+way+that+evolution+can+proceed%2C+through+gradual+change+honed+by+natural+selection.+My+concern+is+for+the+neglect+of+the+vast+amount+of+evidence+supporting+the+theory+that+modern+humans+did+not+emerged+in+a+gradual%2C+step-wise+fashion.+Here+I+argue+that+hominins+evolved+through+major+evolutionary+leaps%2C+which+may+have+numbered+only+two+or+three+significant+mutation+%60%60events%22.+Neoteny+(the+retention+of+infant+or+juvenile+growth+rates)+has+been+the+major+force+in+the+evolution+of+our+primate+ancestors+and+this+process+can+explain+the+sudden+emergence+of+many+of+the+traits+that+define+what+it+means+to+be+human%2C+including+the+sudden+emergence+of+human+cognition+and+language.&rft.publisher=Lawrence+Erlbaum+Associates&rft.contributor=Bara%2C+Bruno+G.&rft.contributor=Barsalou%2C+Lawrence&rft.contributor=Bucciarelli%2C+Monica&rft.date=2005&rft.type=Conference+Paper&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4951%2F1%2Fp1248.pdf&rft.identifier=++Lanyon%2C+Susan+J.++(2005)+A+%22Sudden+Appearance%22+model+for+the+Evolution+of+Human+Cognition+and+Language.++%5BConference+Paper%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4951%2F