TALKING TO ONESELF AS A SELECTIVE PRESSURE FOR THE EMERGENCE OF LANGUAGE

Selective pressures for the evolutionary emergence of human language tend to be interpreted as social in nature, i.e., for better social communication and coordination. Using a simple neural network model of language acquisition we demonstrate that even using language for oneself, i.e., as private or inner speech, improves an individual’s categorization of the world and, therefore, makes the individual’s behavior more adaptive. We conclude that language may have first emerged due to the advantages it confers on individual cognition, and not only for its social advantages.