James W. Pennebaker, Chairman | SEA 4.212 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX 78712 | 512-471-1157

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Peter MacNeilage, Ph.D.
Professor

Email: macneilage@psy.utexas.edu Phone: 475-7009 Office: SEA 3.230 See also Cognition, Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology

My main research interest is in the evolution of complex action systems. In the context of the history of thought this has been a neglected topic, and this remains the case in modern cognitive science. It has been primarily concerned with apprehension of the world and with mental operations, rather than with the role of action on the world, which is central from a Darwinian perspective. I have developed a theory of the evolution of handedness and a theory of the evolution of speech (see references below) in an attempt to help remedy this neglect. According to the handedness theory, the original specialization of the left hemisphere of the brain in primates was for body postural control, complementary to a left hand - right hemisphere specialization for predation in prosimians. It is proposed that left hemisphere specialization for both right handedness in higher primates and speech in humans derived from this initial postural specialization. It is also proposed that the mouth open-close alteration which provides the "frame" for syllables evolved from ingestive cyclicities such as chewing via an intermediate stage of visuofacial communicative cyclicities, such as lipsmacks, which are common in other higher primates. My research program primarily consists of ethological studies of acquisition of speech in the hope that speech ontogeny will throw light on phylogeny.

Courses

UNDERGRADUATE:

Psy 301, Introduction to Psychology
Psy 337, Psychology of Language

References

MacNeilage, P.F. The Origin of Speech. Oxford University Press, April 2008.

Davis, B.L., MacNeilage, P.F. & Matyear, C.  Acquisition of serial complexity in speech production:  A comparison of phonetic and phonological approaches to first word production. Phonetica, 2002, 59, 75-107.

MacNeilage, P.F. & Davis, B.L. Motor mechanisms in speech ontogeny: phylogenetic, neurobiological and linguistic implications.  Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2001, 11, 696-700.

MacNeilage, P.F. & Davis, B.L. On the origin of internal structure of word forms. Science, 2000, 288, 527-531.

MacNeilage, P.F. Speech, motor control.  In G. Adelman and B. Smith (Eds) Encyclopedia of neuroscience, 2nd Edition. The Hague, Elsevier, l999, 409-412.

MacNeilage, P.F. The Frame/Content theory of evolution of speech production.  Behavioral and Brain Sciences, l998, 21, 499-546.

MacNeilage, P.F. Acquisition of speech.  In W.J. Hardcastle and J. Laver, (Eds) Handbook of Phonetic Sciences, Oxford, Blackwell, 1997.

MacNeilage, P.F. The "Postural Origins" theory of neurobiological asymmetries in primates. In N. Krasnegor, D. Rumbaugh, M. Studdert-Kennedy & B. Lindblom (Eds) Biobehavioral Foundations of Language Development, Hillsdale, N.J. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1990.

MacNeilage, P.F. Studdert-Kennedy, M.G. & Lindblom, B. Primate Handedness Reconsidered.  Behavioral and Brain Sciences, l987, 10, 247-303.