Peter F. Macneilage
Professor Emeritus — Ph.D., McGill University

Contact
- E-mail: macneilage@mail.utexas.edu
- Office: SEA 6.108
- Campus Mail Code: A8000
Interests
Psycholinguistics, dynamics of speech articulation, neuropsychology of language, and comparative neurobiology of complex action systems (vocal and manual)
Biography
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.
Read about The Origin of Speech.
Courses
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
42980 • Fall 2010
Meets TTH 8:00AM-9:30AM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 337 • Psychology Of Language
43125 • Fall 2010
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM NOA 1.124
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
43750 • Spring 2010
Meets MWF 1:00PM-2:00PM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 337 • Psychology Of Language
43885 • Spring 2010
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM NOA 1.124
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
43920 • Fall 2009
Meets TTH 8:00AM-9:30AM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 337 • Psychology Of Language
44090 • Fall 2009
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM NOA 1.124
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
42980 • Spring 2009
Meets MWF 1:00PM-2:00PM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 337 • Psychology Of Language
43135 • Spring 2009
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM NOA 1.124
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
43995 • Fall 2008
Meets TTH 8:00AM-9:30AM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
43875 • Spring 2008
Meets MWF 1:00PM-2:00PM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
44840 • Fall 2007
Meets TTH 8:00AM-9:30AM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
43525 • Spring 2007
Meets MWF 3:00PM-4:00PM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
44625 • Fall 2006
Meets TTH 8:00AM-9:30AM NOA 1.124
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
42810 • Spring 2006
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM CPE 2.208
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
41285 • Spring 2005
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM CPE 2.208
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
42335 • Fall 2004
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM NOA 1.126
SB
PSY 301 • Introduction To Psychology
39800 • Spring 2004
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM CPE 2.208
SB
LIN 395 • Conf Course In Linguistics
37330 • Spring 2003
PSY 388K • Conference On Special Topics
40435 • Spring 2003
PSY 341K • Evolutionary Cognitv Neursci-W
40915 • Fall 2002
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM ETC 2.102
C2
PSY 359 • Select Tpcs: Reading: Tutorial
40240 • Spring 2002
PSY 341K • Evolutionary Cognitv Neursci-W
41135 • Fall 2001
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM BEN 204
C2
PSY 341K • Evolutionary Cognitv Neursci-W
40833 • Fall 2000
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 301
C2
Publications
MacNeilage, P.F., Rogers, L.J., & Vallortigara, G. Origins of the left and right brain. Scientific American, July 2009, 301, 60-67.
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.
The Origin of Speech
The Origin of Speech
About the Author
Peter MacNeilage has written over 120 papers on the topic of complex action systems and their evolution. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Acoustical Society of America, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural and Social Sciences. ...from the book jacket
The Origin of Speech combines a critique of the Non-Darwinian approach to speech of Noam Chomsky with a presentation of two Neodarwinian theories regarding the evolution of speech production. According to the "Frame/Content" theory, the mouth close-open alternation underlying the basic consonant-vowel syllable of speech had its origin in the cyclical mouth movements of chewing, sucking, and licking. According to the "Postural Origins" theory, both right handedness and the specialization of the left cerebral hemisphere for speech had a deep heritage in a left hemisphere specialization for the control of the body under routine circumstances."...Peter MacNeilage, Professor of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin
Description
"This book explores the origin and evolution of speech. The human speech system is in a league of its own in the animal kingdom and its possession dwarfs most other evolutionary achievements. During every second of speech we unconsciously use about 225 distinct muscle actions. To investigate the evolutionary origins of this prodigious ability, Peter MacNeilage draws on work in linguistics, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and animal behavior. He puts forward a neo-Darwinian account of speech as a process of descent in which ancestral vocal capabilities became modified in response to natural selection pressures for more efficient communication. His proposals include the crucial observation that present-day infants learning to produce speech reveal constraints that were acting on our ancestors as they invented new words long ago.
This important and original investigation integrates the latest research on modern speech capabilities, their acquisition, and their neurobiology, including the issues surrounding the cerebral hemispheric specialization for speech. Written in a clear style with minimal recourse to jargon the book will interest a wide range of readers in cognitive, neuro-, and evolutionary science, as well as all those seeking to understand the nature and evolution of speech and human communication." ...from the book jacket
The Origin of Speech is available on Amazon.com...