One of many aspects of the linguistic centrality of the spoken word is the "acoustic trigger" to conceptualization, the most significant primal trigger in human beings, which when activated results in contrast and comparison leading to symbolic conceptualization. The oral/aural mode, or vocal production and acoustic perception, is developmentally central in the capacity for human language, semanticity, and displacement. The acoustic trigger is essential to the normal initiation and development of conceptualization, mentation, and other higher mental processes. Research is recommended in the following topics: the critical states of the trigger's componential development; the development of total triggering capacity of a normal infant; the effects of trigger deficiencies on developmental stages of conceptualization and socialization; intervention techniques to improve trigger performance in children; augmentation of natural trigger strength to increase conceptual capacities; and the development of prosthetic devices for decentering and displacement. (DF)