Psycholinguistics, the science of mind and language

Many times we do not stop to think about how important communication is for human beings. When this fails, problems arise that affect us cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally. Therefore, it is important to study it, various disciplines do it; one of them is psycholinguistics.

Today in The mind is wonderful We will talk about this discipline. We will dive into the depths of the branch of psychology that is dedicated to language. We will tell you how it differs from other branches, what it studies and what the psycholinguistic skills are.

What is psycholinguistics?

To begin, it must be clarified that psycholinguistics actually arises from two areas.: psychology and linguistics; The first is dedicated to the study of thought, emotions and human behavior and the second studies the manifestations of language.

So, Both knowledges come together to study language in human beings. However, it is not simply the sum of the two areas. Rather, theories and approaches from both are used and new research is generated.

Psycholinguistics is a science that It is responsible for studying how we acquire, understand, produce, and elaborate language. Also, it studies conditions or losses related to language. In addition, it emphasizes the cognitive mechanisms that intervene when linguistic information is processed.

psycholinguistics focuses on both the analysis of psychological and neurological factors that influence language. And, it is a theoretical and experimental discipline.

How is psycholinguistics different from other branches?

Psycholinguistics differs from other branches in the way it approaches language. Let’s see how he does it:

Study. Study how language is used. To do this, it focuses on the use of our knowledge and the psychological processes involved.Performance. It values ​​the set of procedures by which knowledge is applied to the production and understanding of linguistic expressions.Action processes. It focuses on those who put the linguistic instinct into operation.

There are other branches that are dedicated to the study of language, but they do so from a different perspective. For example, sociolinguistics does so by studying the relationship between sociocultural and linguistic phenomena. Linguistics itself also serves as an example, which is dedicated to the origin, evolution and structure of language.

Perhaps, linguistics and psycholinguistics tend to be more confused. Xavier Frías Conde makes it easier for us to understand their contrasts in his article “Introduction to psycholinguistics”. He suggests that they differ among other things in:

Comprehension. The minimum acoustic unit is the phoneme for linguistics. And, for psycholinguistics, it is the syllable.Production. The subject of study in linguistics is the ideal native speaker. On the other hand, for psycholinguistics it is the real speaker.Object of study. Regarding the use of language, linguistics seeks the most elegant, formal and abstract forms of language. And, psycholinguistics the principles of operation.

At this point you will wonder, How does psycholinguistics carry out its study? It does so through interventions with two approaches:

Observational. Based on the examination of linguistic behavior. Furthermore, it is done through the collection of natural data in contextualized everyday situations.Experimental. Through the scientific method, in laboratory experiments.

Besides, Psycholinguistics, like most disciplines that have been born from two others, is very careful in its methodology. For this reason, experiments in this field usually stand out for their good design and execution. Also, as science, it generates new questions through the answers it finds. Thus, we are talking about a very lively field.

What are psycholinguistic skills?

These are all those we count on to communicate with. Therefore, essential when interacting. Let’s see:

Language.Thinking.Writing.Auditory comprehension.Auditory sequential memory.Visual comprehension.Visual association.Verbal expression.Motor expression.Visual integration.Auditory integration.Visuomotor sequential memory.

However, To assess these abilities, psycholinguistics relies on the research paradigm of cognitive psychology, which is based on mentalist, functionalist, computational and restrictive theory.

Objectives of psycholinguistics

The primary objective of psycholinguistics is to understand and explain the psychological and neurological processes involved in the creation, use and compression of language. However, this is not the only one:

It also aims to know cHow the human brain understands the messages it receiveswhether oral or written. Know in depth the language production.Analyze the structures and processes that confer the human ability to speak and understand.Specify the functional organization of language skills.Study the evolution of language.

In short, psycholinguistics is a current science. Furthermore, thanks to his constant passion for research, especially in the experimental field, will help us decipher the complexity of language in human beings. Therefore, with his advances he tells us how we produce, codify and use language as an instrument of communication.

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