Knowledge and Language

685 Pages·1986·9.881 MB·

by  I. Kurcz, G.W. Shugar and J.H. Danks (Eds.)

KNOWLEDGE AND LANGUAGE
Editedby
I. KURCZ
G.W.SHUGAR
FacultyofPsychology
UniversityofWarsaw
Warsaw,Poland
and
J.H.DANKS
DepartmentofPsychology
KentStateUniversity
Kent, OH, U.S.A.
N·H
(P~C
~
~
1986
NORTH-HOLLAND
AMSTERDAM ·NEWYORK.OXFORD ·TOKYO
©ElsevierSciencePublishersB.Y.,1986
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyform orbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermissionofthecopyrightowner.
ISBN: 0 444 70066 8
Publishers:
ELSEVIERSCIENCEPUBLISHERSB.Y.
P.O.Box1991
1000BZAmsterdam
TheNetherlands
SoledistributorsfortheU.S.A. andCanada:
ELSEVIERSCIENCEPUBLISHINGCOMPANY,INC.
52VanderbiltAvenue
NewYork,N.Y.10017
U.S.A.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicatsmData
Knowledge and language.
(Advances in psychology 39)
Includes index.
1. Psycholinguistics. 2. Language acquisition.
3. Cognition. I. Kurcz, Ida. II. Shugar, G. W.
(Grace W.) III. Danks, Joseph H. IV. Series:
Advances in psychology (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 39.
P37.K58 1986 401'.9 86-13565
ISBN 0-444-70066-8 (U.S.)
PRINTED INTHE NETHERLANDS
v
PREFACE
The theme of this book, embodied in the title, is knowledge
and language. It arose from the conviction that language use
involves knowledge of the world and that these relations are
crucial for our understanding of language use and the workings
of the human mind. The theme was adopted for an International
Conference on Knowledge and Language held in Jachranka near
Warsaw in June, 1984, organized by the Psycholinguistic Unit at
the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw. The conference
organizers felt that this theme would be a rallying point for
investigators of diverse orientations. And so it was. The con
ference was attended by about 90 invited participants from 16
countries. Not all those who accepted the invitation from vari
ous countries were able to attend. The conference was organized
in three symposia running in parallel: General Psychology of
Language led by Ida Kurcz, Child Language led by Grace Wales
Shugar, and Neurolinguistics led by Danuta Kadzielawa. Three
special guest speakers at plenary sessions were Professor James
J. Jenkins of South Florida, USA, Professor John Macnamara of
McGill University, Canada, and Professor Edward Mueller, Boston
University, USA.
From among the more than 60 conference papers, the editors
selected 28 which presented broad perspectives on ioportant
problems and which made substantial contributions to current
discussion of the central theme. Our aim was to bring together
a diversity of approaches to the theme from specialists in var
ious parts of the world, from Europe, Australia, and North Ame~
ica. Unfortunately, many interesting papers presented at the
conference could not be included. The papers from the neurolin
guistic symposium were omitted in order to restrict the scope
vi Preface
of tho book. However, almost all the conference materials are
being published in Polish by Ossolineum, Wroclaw. in two vol
umes: I. General Psychology of Language and Neurolinguistics
edited by Ida Kurcz, Jerzy Bobryk, and Danuta Kadzielawa and
II. Child Languago edited by Ida Kurcz, Grace Wales Shugar, and
Barbara Bokus. The result of the editorial selection is this
book, a heterogeneous collection of chapters, through which
flows a distinct undercurrent advancing the common theme. Many
of the original papers have been thoroughly revised in the
course of editorial consultation. In revising the papers, au
thors drew on the discussions at the conference and so the ar
ticles are linked together in several ways at several levels.
The chapters are grouped into five sections reflecting var
iations on the main theme of knowledge and language: I. Seman
tics and Concepts, II. Cognitive Representation and Language
Processing, III. Acquisition within and across Languages, IV.
Social Cognition and Language Communication, and V. Metalinguis
tic Knowledge and Cognitive Functioning.
A controversy underlying several of the chapters in Part I
(Semantics and Concepts) is the proper relation between formal,
logical descriptions of language and psychological analyses of
language use. Should the logical analyses direct, constrain,
guide, or inform the psychological? Although discussed in the
abstract in some chapters, the answer likely lies in the empir
ical results reported. Do the logical analyses enhallce our un
derstandinf of the phenomena, and if so, how? Several of the
chapters provide evidence by which readers can draw their own
answers to the question. Another subtheme is how the structure
of linguistic concepts relates to knowledge about the referents
of those concepts. Knowledge and language are not separate do
mains, except in the minds of theorists. How then do people re
present their knowledge about the world and use that knowledge
for communication? Answering this question is, of course, cen
tral to the main theme for the entire book, indeed, for the
whole cognitive enterprise.
The chapters in Part II (Cognitive ERrp.'1p.nt.flt.iol1 and
Language Processing) carry discussion of the knowledge and lan
guage theme to another level of linguistic analysis, namely,
sentences and texts. Sentences and texts are not understood in
cognitive isolation. The question then becomes how world knowl
edge constrains and facilitates language understanding. Some of
the papers focus on sentences, especially those that seem like
they might cause special problems for comprehenders, such as
metaphor and ambiguity. Other chapters consider how a reader's
world knowledge is used to understand texts, especially diffi
cult ones which pose some special problem to the reader before
they can be completely understood. Still other chapters inves
tigate how information presented in different forms and modali
ties becomes integrated in the comprehender's mind to form a
common knowledge store. In all cases, how knowledge interacts
with language use and how language integrates with the knowledge
base are the overarching questions.
Part III (Acquisition within and across Languages) presents
a selection of papers which emphasize various aspects of the
language acquisition process both from the point of view of the
language under acquisition and from that of the child who ac
quires language as a cognitive and pragmatic instrument. The
controversial issues are the role of pragmatic as well as se
mantic demands the child places on the language and the signif
icance of individual pathways (differences) through the acqui
sition forest. The range of languages discussed in these papers
provide different vantage points for a comparative view of the
acquisition process.
Part IV (Social Cognition and Language Communication) covers
a wide variety of topics under its heading. The chapters are
mainly concerned with the complex relationships betvleen the de
velopment, transmission, and compreh2nsion of intention and
meaning, and the growth of the representation of social knowl
edge. The chronological span ranges from the prelinguistic peri
od through early to later social communication through language.
An underlying theme discussed in several chapters is the essen
tial nature of interpersonal meaning and the processes whereby
that meaning is shared. Also discussed is detailed research on
viii Preface
the outcomes of social cognition in the domain of social con
trol.
Part V (Metalinguistic Knowledge and Cognitive Functioning)
follows three seemingly divergent themes: how metalinguistic
knowledge and cognitive-linguistic development interrelate in
general; how the early acquisition of both written and spoken
languages in parallel mutually affect each other in the course
of cognitive development; and how early learning of different
languages simultaneously affects cognitive development. The
deep underlying theme is the impact acquiring a language (or
two languages) has on the development of the child's knowledge
structures. l1etalinguistic knowledge is not linguistic knowl
edge per se, but is knowledge about a very important component
of the child's world. Likewise, acquiring a language (or lan
guages) affects directly the sorts of knowledge the child is
capable of learning as well as how that knowledge is organized.
It is the editors' sincerest hope that our understanding of
the relation between knowledge and language is advanced by the
diversity of perspectives, the variety of argumentation and
theoretical analyses, and the broad spectrum of empirical stud
ies represented in these chapters. This diversity greatly en
hanced the participants' interactions at the conference. We
hope that the exchanges initiated at the conference contribute
to a broadened base for understanding knowledge and language.
Acknowledgements
The editors wish to express their thanks to the Department
of Psychology at the Polish Academy of Sciences and personally
to its head, Professor Janusz Reykowski, for providing finan
cial and organizational support, and to the Faculty of Psychol
ogy at the University of Warsaw for assistance in the work of
preparing and conducting the conference. Joseph Danks also ex
presses his thanks to the Department of Psychology at Standford
University for providing such a hospitable environment for him
to do most of his editing while on sabbatical leave. He also
thanks the National Academy of Sciences (USA), the Polish Acad
emy of Sciences, and the National Institute of Education for
Preface ix
supporting his work at the conference and during the editing of
this book. Ida Kurcz and Grace Wales Shugar wish to express
their thanks to the Department of Psychology at the Polish Acad
emy of Sciences for support in their editorial work. The ediwrs
also wish to express our gratitude to the editor at North-Hol
land, Dr. K. Michielsen, for his patience and understanding
trhoughout preparation of this book. Doguslaw Jankowski, who
was responsible for technical editing and preparation of the
camera-ready copy, deserves the heart-felt thanks of the editors
and the authors for converting the diversely prepared manu
scripts into the final copy.
October, 1985 Ida Kurcz
Grace Wales Shugar
Joseph H. Danks
xi
LIST OFCONTRIBUTORS
BARBARA BOKUS
Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7,
00-183 Warszawa, Poland
LUC CARITE
Center of Studies in Cognitive Psychology, University of
Paris-Sud, Centre Scientifique D'Orsay, B~timent 335,
91405 Orsay Cedex, France
AGNES CHARVILLAT
Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Paris V,
28, rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France
JOSEPH H. DANKS
Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent,
OH 44242, U.S.A.
LAUREL END
Salve Regina College, New Port, RI, U.S.A.
JOHANNES ENGELKAMP
FR 6.4. Psychology, Social and Environmental Sciences,
University of Saarland, D-6600 SaarbrUcken, F.R.G.
SUITBERT ERTEL
Institute of Psychology, Georg-August University,
Gosslerstrasse 14, 3400 Gottingen, F.R.G.
NORMAN FREEMAN
Department of Psychology, University of Bristol,
8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol Bs8 1HH, U.K.
SAM GLUCKSBERG
Department of Psychology, Princeton University,
Green Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, U.S.A.
KARIN GOEDE
Central Institute of Linguistics, A~ademy of Sciences,
Prenzlauer Promenade 149-152, 1100 Berlin, G.D.R.
JOACHIM HOFFMANN
Psychology Area, Central Institute of Cybernetics and
Information Processes, Academy of Sciences, Kurstrasse 33,
1086 Berlin, G.D.R.
xii ListofContributors
JAMES J. JENKINS
Department of Psychology, University of South Florida,
Tampa, FL 33620, U.S.A.
MICHELE KAIL
Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Paris V,
28, rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France
OLGA KATCHAN
Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney,
N.S.W. 2006, Australia
IDA KURCZ
Department of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Plac Ma2achowskiego 1, 00-063 Warszawa, Poland
JEAN-FRANCOIS LE NY
Center of Studies in Cognitive Psychology, University of
Paris-Sud, Centre Scientifique D'Orsay, BAtiment 335,
91405 Orsay Cedex, France
JOHN MACNAMARA
Department of Psychology, McGill University,
1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, PQ H3A lBl, Canada
HANNA MARCZEWSKA
Institute of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw,
Browarna 8/10, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland
EDWARD MUELLER
Department of Psychology, Boston University,
64 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, U.S.A.
TULLIA MUSATTI
Institute of Psychology of CNR, via dei Monti Tiburtini 509,
00157 Roma, Italy
KATHY PEZDEK
Department of Psychology, Claremont Graduate School,
Claremont, CA 91711, U.S.A.
SEBASTIEN POITRENAUD
Center of Studies in Cognitive Psychology, University of
Paris-Sud, Centre Scientifique D'Orsay, Batiment 335,
91405 Orsay Cedex, France
ANNA POLKOWSKA
Department of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Flac Ma2achowskiego 1, 00-063 Warszawa, Poland
MARIA PRZETACZNIK-GIEROWSKA
Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University,
Go2ebia 13, 31-007 Krak6w, Poland
MI\I,I\ F. RITTMAN
D~r~rtment of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent,
on Ij4242, U.S.A.
ListofContributors xiii
MAUREEN M. SHIELDS
Institute of Education, Department of Child Development,
University of London, 25 Woburn Square, London WC1H OAA, U.K.
GRACE W. SHUGAR
Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7,
00-183 Warszawa, Poland
ANNE SINCLAIR
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of
Geneva, 24, rue General-Dufour, 1211 Geneve 4, Switzerland
MAGDALENA SMOCZYNSKA
Chair of General and Indo-European Linguistics, Jagiellonian
University, Mickiewicza 9/11, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
RAGNHILD SODERBERGH
Child Language Research Institute, Department of Linguistics,
Lund University, Helgonabacken 12, S-22362 Lund, Sweden
JACQUELINE A. STEDMON
Department of Psychology, University of Bristol,
8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol Bs8 lHH, U.K.
JULIANA STOJANOVA-TRAJKOVA
Sofijski Universitet "Kl. Ohridski",
Fakultet Slavianski Filologii, Katedra Savremenen Balgarski Ezik,
Bul. "Ruski" 15, Sofia 1000, BUlgaria
PATRIZIA TABOSSI
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna,
V. le Berti-Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy
JORMA 'I'OrVAINEN
Fennicum, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland
RICHARD M. WEIST
Department of Psychology, State University College,
Fredonia, NY 14063, U.S.A.
MICHAL ZAGRODZKI
Department of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Plac Malachowskiego 1, 00-063 Warszawa, Poland