Language and the Mind

The Great Courses

by Spencer Kelly

Join an esteemed professor of psychology and neuroscience to dive into the fascinating relationship between the evolution of language and the mind.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Audiobook, Psychology, Science, Linguistics, Neuroscience

187 pages, Audiobook

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Georgiana · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first ten lectures were great.

Then he got into autism and theory of mind.

I got so angry at his incredibly dehumanising, ableist and outdated perspective (the study by Simon Baron Cohen that he cites is from 1985 and is poorly supported) that I quit in the middle of lecture 11.

I get more than enough stereotypes about how we autistic folks are all stunted in our emotional and linguistic development just from living in 21st century North America.

I was going to give it two stars, because the first almost-half really was good.

But... this guy is a scientist. He should damned well know, and do, better.

[Jenny Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the topics and some really interesting studies. I'll be referring back to this course in my work on the performative.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting and basic introduction to neurolinguistics. I was particularly enthralled by the chapters on simulation theory, synesthesia, speech language disorders, and multilingualism.

This course only got four stars from me because of how Kelly approached the 'Theory of Mind' within the context of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Some of the research cited here had its basis in ableist theories from the early 19th and 20th centuries that dehumanized neurodivergent individuals and Kelly did not adequate cover this topic within a contemporary context.

[Matthew Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the various neurological implications, such as the roles of different brain regions in speech, recognition, and communication, to be enlightening. The book helped me better understand how we comprehend speech and communicate in general. I also found the chapters on sign language to be very inspirational and interesting, especially in the way they explored how we use our bodies and body language as unique forms of communication, separate from verbal speech and lip reading.

I was especially intrigued by which parts of the brain are activated during these processes, how the body influences our perception of speech, and the complexities between different languages. The book also explored how we express emotions and understand concepts such as color, meaning, and philosophical ideas. Language seems to encapsulate so many layers of thought, rhetoric, memory, expression, and understanding, and this book elaborated on those ideas in a very meaningful way.

[Pierre Jacomet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Audiobook for this "Great Course". The author is very knowledgeable and provides backing support for all the theories he exposes. I love linguistics and through this course, I was able to find a new frontier for my passion: Language and the mind seem to co-evolve in the sense that language is both a unique manifestation of our mind, with the purpose of communicating and through it and our brain's neuroplasticity, we learn how to develop and evolve our mind. Captivating lectures.

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I'm very interested in how the mind works and language is a huge part of our brain functions. I found it to be very technical with lots of scientific language but still able to understand.

[Hendrik Strauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Presenting differing perspectives on each topic while asserting plausible inferences due to experimental evidence.
Excellent delivery, easy to follow and deeply enlightening.

[Rebee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should have listened to this book last year when I was in that bilingualism research class. It is good my favorite part is the last chapter where they discussed distributed cognition.

[Anat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dry, but very interesting. If you’re into psycho linguistics, this is right up your alley.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, I only wish the series were longer

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this course. On the negative side, I found it unusually boring for a Great Course. I also disagreed with some of his pronouncements, such as, do animals have language? On the positive side: it had all the good characteristics of The Great Courses lectures: It had lots of information. It had great visuals. The sound recording was high-quality. It had high-level information, explained as best he could. *This lecturer was absolutely the best of any Great Course, in giving credit for the multiple authors and universities of studies cited!* Recommended for all interested in the complex field of Thought and Language!

[Dkettmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wounderful and works well in audio format. If you like (ethical) behavioral experiments on babies this is for you.

[Amadeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author offers a broad perspective of language associated with neuroscience studies. The audiobook addresses various topics (language learning, disorders associated with language and linked to brain diseases, associative use of the mind by children to learn through language, among others) on the surprising way in which language and mind operate together, and at the same time are configured, to make sense of the conceptions that serve to interpret our environment. The audiobook is a source of inspiration for people seeking an approach to understanding the power of language in human development.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Language is a system and technology that interacts with culture, minds, and brains.