Stages in the evolution and development of sign use

Zatlev and the Sedsu Projet (2006). Stages in the Evolution and Development of Sign Use (SEDSU) : An Interdisciplinary Project within the EUropean union’S 6th Framework Programme. In The Evolution of Language : Proceedings of the 6th international conference (Cangelosi, A., Smith, A.D. & Smith, K. eds) London : World Scientific Press

 

 

Abstract – We present the rationale and ongoing research of an interdisciplinary international project aiming at developing a novel theory of semiotic development, on the basis of broad developmental, cross-species and cross-cultural research. We focus on five socialcognitive domains: (i) perception and categorization, (ii) iconcity and pictures, (iii) space
and metaphor, (iv) imitation and mimesis and (v) intersubjectivity and conventions, each of which is briefly described. Our main hypothesis is that what distinguishes human beings from other animals is an advanced capacity to engage in sign use, which on its part allowed for the evolution of language.