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Steven Pinker
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Steven Pinker
Hear psycholinguist Steven Pinker outlining the evolution of several unique traits in humans as compared with other species
Listen to psycholinguist Steven Pinker speaking about the “cognitive niche” in early modern human evolution
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Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker Steven Pinker.

Steven Pinker

Canadian-born American psychologist
Also known as: Steven Arthur Pinker
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Sherman Hollar
Sherman Hollar is a senior editor at Encyclopædia Britannica.
Sherman HollarAll
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Steven Pinker (born September 18, 1954, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian-born American psychologist who advocates evolutionary explanations for the functions of the brain and thus for language and behaviour. Pinker was raised in a largely Jewish neighbourhood of Montreal. He studied cognitive science at McGill University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1976. He earned a doctorate in experimental psychology at Harvard University in 1979. After stints as an assistant professor...

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