How do humans understand each other? One unique aspect is the evolution of more than six thousand languages on earth. In order to use language meaningfully a certain social cognitive infrastructure is needed. This infrastructure turns out to be prior to the acquisition of language in humans. The research presented in this video investigates how infants learn to communicate and how they understand other people’s intentions and needs before they speak. ULF LISZKOWSKI and his team used a variety of experimental methods, such as eye tracking, EEG and observation, to establish that one-year-old infants already have an awareness of other people’s mental states: they want to help and share information by pointing to things. This makes human communication unique even prior to language acquisition.

LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10423