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Prediction is no panacea: The key to language is in the unexpected

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2013

Hugh Rabagliati  and
Douglas K. Bemis
Hugh Rabagliati
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, Scotland, United Kingdom. hugh.rabagliati@ed.ac.uk https://sites.google.com/site/hughrabagliati/
Douglas K. Bemis
Affiliation:
INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA/SAC/DSV/DRM/Neurospin Center, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France. Douglas.BEMIS@cea.fr http://www.unicog.org/people/doug.bemis/
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Abstract

For action systems, the critical task is to predict what will happen next. In language, however, the critical task is not to predict the next auditory event but to extract meaning. Reducing language to an action system, and putting prediction at center, mistakenly marginalizes our core capacity to communicate the novel and unpredictable.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 36 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 372 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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