?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=A+Saltationist+Approach+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+camps.+The+neo-Darwinian+approach+generally+argues+that+human+psychological+modules%2C+including+the+language+faculty%2C+must+have+arisen+gradually+and+incrementally+having+been+honed+by+natural+selection.+Thus+Pinker%2C+when+theorizing+about+language+evolution%2C+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+(Pinker%2C+1994%2C+333).+However%2C+as+Knight+et+al.+(2000)+have+pointed+out%2C+little+attention+has+been+paid+by+the+neo-Darwinian+approach+to+address+the+causes+of+the+emergence+of+novelty.+The+saltationist+approach+gleans+much+of+its+evidence+from+the+archaeological+and+paleontological+record%2C+which+is+interpreted+as+unsupportive+of+the+neo-Darwinian+paradigm.+Jackendoff+(1999)+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+driven+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%2C+so+there+is+no+reason+to+believe+that+cognition+and+language+evolved+in+this+manner.+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)+appears+to+have+been+a+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.+Further+evidence+from+the+fossil+and+archaeological+record+supports+a+%60%60sudden%22+emergence+of+human+cognition+and+language.&rft.publisher=World+Scientific&rft.contributor=Cangelosi%2C+Angelo&rft.contributor=+Smith%2C+Andrew+D+M&rft.contributor=Smith%2C+Kenny&rft.date=2006&rft.type=Conference+Paper&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4952%2F1%2Fevolang6.pdf&rft.identifier=++Lanyon%2C+Susan+J.++(2006)+A+Saltationist+Approach+for+the+Evolution+of+Human+Cognition+and+Language.++%5BConference+Paper%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4952%2F