The Alphabet and the Brain
Subtitle: The Lateralization of Writing
By: edited by Derrick Kerckhove, Charles J. Lumsden
Contributors: Lumsden, Charles J.
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published: 1988
Place of publication: Berlin, Heidelberg
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 455
ISBN-13: 9783662010952; 9783662010938
Subjects: Neurosciences; Philosophy (General); Artificial intelligence
Description: The psychology and historiography of writing has generally received less attention than reading, speech and language acquisition. This book tries to redress that imbalance and is the fruit of the continual collaboration between a humanist and a neuroscientist who share an interest in the role of biology and brain-related factors in cultural evolution. It brings together a wide selection of scientists from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, linguistics and philology in an interdisciplinary discussion of the nature of the alphabetic system of Western writing and the forces affecting its evolution. The goal of the book is to present the background to a new model that demonstrates what factors shaped our alphabet and how the alphabet shapes us. This model develops from de Kerckhove's causal model of literacy and psychosocial development and extends to implications about the large-scale structure of human history. The chapters are especially designed so as to bring the reader up to date with each topic before giving the narrower focus. This valuable feature makes the book easily accessible to a wide audience from a variety of related fields.
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Table of contents: title: Contents: General Introduction; title: Biological Foundations; title: The Evolution of Writing Systems; title: Writing Right and Left; title: Neuropsychological Considerations; title: Brain, Lateralization and Writing: Initial Models; title: General Conclusion; title: Index.