Visual and verbal communication are typically thought to work in very different ways. While speech uses a conventionalized vocabulary that is acquired from children’s environments, drawing is assumed to reflect the articulation of how people see and think, with learning based on “artistic talent.” Yet, research from linguistics and cognitive science has suggested that these domains are actually not so distinctive. I will argue that learning to draw involves building up a visual vocabulary of graphic representations that is developed across a sensitive period similar to that of language. In addition, comprehending sequential images involves a grammar built of “parts of speech” and hierarchic phrases, which evoke similar brain responses as the syntax of sentences. Finally, I’ll explore the origins of cultural assumptions about graphics and show that the way Western culture considers “art” and its instruction actually inhibits people from learning how to draw and to become proficient in these visual languages.

Presenter Bio

Neil Cohn, Tillburg University

Neil Cohn Ph.D. is an American cognitive scientist best known for his pioneering research on the overlap in structure and cognition between graphic communication and language. He is the author of 2 graphic novels, over 70 academic papers, and 4 academic books, including his most recent book, Who Understands Comics? (Bloomsbury, 2020) which was nominated for a 2021 Eisner Award. His theories provided the foundation for BBC News Labs’ automatically generated news comics, and he helped propose several face emoji now in keyboards. He received his PhD in cognitive psychology at Tufts University and is currently an Associate Professor of Cognition and Communication at Tilburg University in The Netherlands. He can be found on twitter at @visual_linguist, and at his website, www.visuallanguagelab.com.