Recursion in language, theory-of-mind inference and arithmetic: aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2011/04/0005/000174Keywords:
recursion, mind, aphasia, Alzheimer diseaseAbstract
We found a variety of dissociations among the linguistic and non-linguistic operations tested. In the case of Hungarian-speaking patients with medium-to-severe Alzheimer's disease (AD), syntactic recursion is relatively unimpaired, as opposed to their limited ability to tackle theory-of-mind and arithmetical recursion. Conversely, we found limited syntactic recursion but normal theory-of-mind inferences and recursive arithmetical operations in Hungarian-speaking agrammatic aphasics. We argue for a model that posits a module of recursive operations in the human mind that is shared by linguistic, theory-of-mind, and arithmetical performance.
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