A HISTORY OF

PSYCHOLIGUISTICS

Early signposts: Syntactics, Semantics

and Pragmatics

Morris (1938) logical positivist division of the study of signs and symbols

Syntactics: the relationship of

signs and texts
Semantics: the relationship of
signs and meanings
Pragmatics: the relationship of
signs and the people who use them

Millers (1964): linguistically - based approach (attemting to demonstrate the

importance of theoretical insights; it derived from linguistics to
psycholinguistics)

Logicophilosophical
frame of reference:
division of the field
into problems of
STRUCTURE,
COMPREHENSION
AND BELIEF

Syntactics or problems of
structure
Semantics or problems
of comprehension
Pragmatics or problems
of belief

1964: Millers comments are the best

accepted in the linguistic period
TWO IMPORTANT
PERIODS OF
FLOURISHMENT OF
PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

A PROMPT TO PSYCHOLOGY: in order

to construct a theory of language
user, one first has to understand how
the user deals with syntactic and
semantic aspects of language, with
the realities of structure and
meaning derived from language.

EUROPE: Beginning of the XX century

AMERICA:
Blomenthal, 1987, Reber, 1987
Wilhelm Wundt: a master of psycholinguitics:
language could be explained in the basis os
psychological principles

THE FOUR MAJOR PERIODS

PERIOD

1.

2.

CHARACTERISTIC AND MAIN

CONTRIBUTORS

Formative
period

Social science research council summer meeting.

This period boasted a symmetrical relationship
between linguistics and psychology, because both
were commited to an operationalist philosophy
(structuralism-prevailing paradigm in linguistics;
behaviorism-prevailing paradigm in psychology).
John B Watson.
Information theory was derived (Shannon and
Weaver, 1949): source-transmitter/encoderchannel-receiver/decoder-destination)

Linguistic
period

Chomsky: operationalist philosophy cannot provide

adequate grammars of natural languages: a
deductive approach is required.
Study of competence to understand the nature of
actual performance.

PERIOD

3.

Cognitive
period

CHARACTERISTIC AND
MAIN CONTRIBUTORS
Language depends upon human
cognition; language is one of several
outcomes of more fundamental
cognitive processes
Chomsky(1968): linguistics is a field
of human cognition (cognitive
psychology)
Bever and Slobin (1973): reject the
centrality and independence of
grammar
Linguistic structure is not learned
independently of semantic concepts
and discourse functions
Acquisition of language: result of the
interaction between the linguistc
and other behavioral systems

PERIOD

CHARACTERISTIC AND
MAIN CONTRIBUTORS

4. Psycholinguistic theory, psychological Psycholinguistics as an

reality, cognitive science
interdisciplinary activity: linguistics,
psychology and psycholinguistics
itself.