Linguistics, cognitive psychology, and the Now-or-Never bottleneck

Behav Brain Sci. 2016 Jan:39:e71. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X15000953.

Abstract

Christiansen & Chater (C&C)'s key premise is that "if linguistic information is not processed rapidly, that information is lost for good" (sect. 1, para. 1). From this "Now-or-Never bottleneck" (NNB), C&C derive "wide-reaching and fundamental implications for language processing, acquisition and change as well as for the structure of language itself" (sect. 2, para. 10). We question both the premise and the consequentiality of its purported implications.

Publication types

  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Cognition
  • Humans
  • Language*
  • Linguistics*