While computational simulation offers many benefits to the study of language evolution, it also has its limitations and difficulties. The two main limitations, simplification and specification, will be discussed below.

Simplification

Most computational simulation models are simplified to allow for an easier understanding of complex phenomena. However, this means that only certain features of language are incorporated into the models and as such they might not fully represent the actual processes in language evolution (Gong, 2009). The complexity of the mechanisms in these models pale in comparison to actual activities in human brains and attempts to increase their complexity could lead to them crashing (Cangelosi & Parisi, 2002). On the other hand, it is also not feasible to build models that are too complicated as that would lead to difficulty in discerning the effect that each factor has on the results (Gong, 2009). Thus, a balance must be struck between the simplification and complication of simulation models.

Specification

Specification is a problem of deciding which factors to include in a model. Simulation models are built to focus on certain factors which are relevant to the theory or hypothesis being studied. However, language is a complex adaptive system (CAS) with various factors influencing each other and it is impossible to point to a single factor which can provide a full picture of language (Gong, 2009). While it would be ideal to build a model incorporating all possible factors which can influence language evolution, such a situation is not feasible as it would lead to the model becoming too complex to be studied (Gong, 2009). Thus, researchers have to specify the factors to be incorporated into a model and at the same time ensure that the model is not so simplified that it would generate results of little significance.

In short, the difficulty of computational simulation lies in building models that are sophisticated enough to explain language evolutionary processes while at the same time simple enough to be understood.