What question did this study set out to answer?

To explain the evolutionary emergence and universality of human language through an attentional binding bias under active inference rather than specialized innate syntactic machinery.

August 20, 2026Evolutionary Linguistic Theory

An attentional-bias account of language emergence

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To explain the evolutionary emergence and universality of human language through an attentional binding bias under active inference rather than specialized innate syntactic machinery.
Theoretical framework development integrating active inference, evolutionary biology, and sensory precision weighting.
Comparative analysis using human echolocation as a model of complex behavior emerging from generic neural systems.
Specification of three falsifiable empirical paradigms: neonatal behavioral preference testing, computational gain profile replay simulations, and newborn functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
Argues that an evolved hyperprior treating addressed, multi-timescale signals (infant-directed speech, eye contact, rhythmic prosody) as reliable evidence drives both perceptual uptake and vocal convergence without a dedicated imitation system.
Accounts for both the universal acquisition of language in humans and the combinatorial limitations observed in other vocal-learning species.
Concludes that evolutionary selection primarily targeted attentional salience profiles rather than domain-specific computational architectures.

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Implication

Theoretical model proposes that evolutionary attentional bias toward communicative cues drives human language emergence, suggesting specialized syntactic neural machinery is unnecessary.

Cite This Study

Brett Reynolds (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a86b56c8a91293e6a1ccd4b https://doi.org/10.1075/elt.26001.rey

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Implication

Theoretical model proposes that evolutionary attentional bias toward communicative cues drives human language emergence, suggesting specialized syntactic neural machinery is unnecessary.

An attentional-bias account of language emergence

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

An attentional-bias account of language emergence

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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